


It's Far From Over

by charming_angel



Series: It's Far From Over [3]
Category: Animorphs, Army Wives, BtVS - Fandom, Doctor Who, Hawaii Five-0 (2010), NCIS LA - Fandom, Primeval, SG-1 - Fandom, SGA - Fandom, SGU - Fandom, Supernatural, Torchwood, Veronica Mars (TV), Warehouse 13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/M, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-31
Updated: 2012-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-11 03:54:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/474229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charming_angel/pseuds/charming_angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an attack on the SGC the Stargate Program finds out about the supernatural and a secret plan of an old enemy who is set on taking over the Earth. Greatly weakened in numbers the Stargate Program begins to recruit while starting to hunt down their enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the Attack

**Author's Note:**

> **Title :** It’s Far From Over  
>  **Rating :** M  
>  **Genre :** crossover, mostly het  
>  **Fandoms :** Animorphs, Army Wives, BTVS, Doctor Who, Hawaii Five-0, Legend of the Seeker, NCIS LA, Primeval, SG-1, SGA, SGU, Supernatural, Torchwood, Veronica Mars & Warehouse 13 (set mainly in the Stargateverse)  
>  **Characters :** Aidan Ford, Amy Pond, Bobby Singer, **Cameron Mitchell** , Cara Mason, Castiel, Chase Moran, Chin Ho Kelly, Chloe Armstrong, Claudia Donovan, Claudia Joy Holden, Daniel Jackson, Danny Williams, Dean Winchester, Denise Sherwood, Eli Wallace, **Elizabeth Weir** , Evan Lorne, Eric Beale, Everett Young, **Faith Lehane** , Frank Sherwood, G Callen, **AU!Gwen Cooper** , Helena G. Wells, Hetty Lange, **Hilary Becker** , **Jack Harkness** , **Jack O'Neill** , clone!Jack O’Neill, Jennifer Keller, Jenny, Kensi Blye, AU!Jo Harvelle, **John Sheppard** , Kahlan Amnell, Kono Kalakaua, Laura Cadman, Lori Weston, Malia Kelly, **Martha Jones** , Marty Deeks, Matthew Scott, Mickey Smith, Myka Bering, Nell Jones, **Rachel Berenson** , Richard Cypher, **Riley Finn** , River Song, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Rory Pond, Rose Tyler, Roxy LeBlanc, Sally Sparrow, **Sam Carter** , Sam Hanna, Sam Winchester, **Stephen Hart** , **Steve McGarrett** , **Tamara Johansen** , Teal'c, Teyla Emmagan, the Doctor (10.5 & 11), Trevor LeBlanc, Vala Mal Doran, Veronica Mars, Willow Rosenberg, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander + some minor characters  
>  **Pairings :** Faith/Riley, Elizabeth/John, Sam/Jack O., AU!Gwen/Jack H., TJ/Cam, Martha/Becker, Rachel/Stephen, Lori/Steve, Kahlan/Richard, Cara/Ronon, Vala/Daniel, Kensi/Deeks, Cadman/Danny, Claudia/Eli, Veronica/Dean, Teyla/Teal’c, River/11, Rose/10.5, Jennifer/Rodney, Nell/Eric, Kono/G, Roxy/Trevor, Claudia Joy/Michael, Pamela/Chase, Denise/Frank, Amy/Rory, Chloe/Matthew, AU!Jo/clone!Jack O., Jenny/Ford, Sally/Mickey, Malia/Chin, Willow/Sam, past Willow/Kennedy  
>  **Summary :** After an attack on the SGC the Stargate Program finds out about the supernatural and a secret plan of an old enemy who is set on taking over the Earth. Greatly weakened in numbers the Stargate Program begins to recruit while starting to hunt down their enemy.  
>  **Disclaimer :** I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.  
>  **Spoiler Warnings :** all of Animorphs, season 1-5 of Army Wives, all BTVS & ATS seasons (no Comics), season 1-6 of New Who, season 1+2 of Hawaii Five-0 (2010), all of Legend of the Seeker, season 1-3 of NCIS LA, season 1-5 of Primeval, all of Stargate, season 1-6 of Supernatural, season 1-3 of Torchwood, all of Veronica Mars  
>  **Other Warnings :** some characters deaths (but no one listed under characters)  
> I’m German and my English isn’t and probably never will be perfect. I hope I don’t make too many mistakes. Feel free to point out errors so I can learn and improve.
> 
>    
> As with all my bigger Crossover stories I am going to add icons throughout the story, so that you can see what characters look like that you might not be familiar with. I made them all myself.
> 
> For more information about characters & locations have a look at the [Series introduction](http://sarah-jones.livejournal.com/106320.html) at my lj. 
> 
> Fanart can be seen [here](http://www.charmingangel.de/fanfics/farfromoverfanart.html). 
> 
> Thank you to my beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this chapter! :-)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> BTVS: Faith Lehane, Riley Finn  
> Stargateverse: Amelia Banks, Cameron Mitchell, Chuck, Daniel Jackson, Jennifer Keller, Jack O'Neill, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Sam Carter, Ronon Dex, Teal'c, Teyla Emmagan, Vala Mal Doran

**Atlantis:**

Colonel John Sheppard glanced at his watch and sighed, then tapped his radio.

“Rodney, where the hell are you? We said 6, not 6.30,” he stated feeling exasperated.

“On my way,” came the answer. “Had to make sure Zelenka wouldn’t sink the city in my absence…” 

John rolled his eyes and tuned out his team mate’s rant, which no doubt was about Zelenka’s incompetence. He had a feeling that insulting Zelenka’s ability made Rodney feel better about himself, and that it was the only reason he continued to claim Zelenka was incompetent when they both knew the man wasn’t. 

“Let me guess, it’s all Zelenka’s fault?” Jennifer Keller asked chuckling slightly from where she stood near the transporter that would get them from the gate room to the dock. Once there they’d take a boat to San Francisco, which was the closest city to Atlantis on the main land.

John nodded. “I don’t know how you can date the man…” he muttered.

“Hey, I heard that,” Rodney protested over the radio.

“Rodney has many good qualities,” Teyla Emmagan said with a smile in Jennifer’s direction. 

_Of course she would say that_ , John thought smirking. Teyla always saw the good in everyone. Then his gaze fell on Ronon Dex. His friend was watching Amelia Banks, who was on gate duty tonight.

“Maybe you should have asked her to come along,” he told Ronon. He knew that the two of them had broken up a while ago, but Ronon obviously still had feelings for her. “You might be able to work things out.”

Ronon turned to John, looking resigned. 

“She is back with her ex. They are getting married,” he said through gritted teeth.

John stared at Ronon. That sucked. Hopefully he and the others would manage to cheer Ronon up a little on their night out in San Francisco. It was time that they all had some fun anyway. John could hardly remember the last time they all had a night off together, or a night off at all. They definitely worked too much.

“I’m sorry.”

“Forget it,” Ronon muttered, as closed off as ever.

John sighed. Maybe he should ask Teyla to talk to Ronon. She was better at that than him. He made a mental note to do that later just as Rodney McKay entered the room.

“Finally,” Ronon grumbled.

“Let’s get going then,” John stated before Ronon and Rodney could get into an argument. Ronon was in a bad enough mood already anyway.

“Good idea,” Jennifer stated, then an alarm went off.

\----- ----- 

“What’s going on?” John asked as he and the others joined the technicians in the control room, which overlooked the gate room with its enormous Stargate.

“We don’t know yet,” Amelia Banks called.

“Let me have a look at that,” Rodney snapped shooing a technician out of the way. A few moments later his face paled.

“What?” John asked. He had a feeling that their night out had just been cancelled. 

Rodney held a finger up for silence, then tried contacting Stargate Command while working on the laptop.

“Stargate Command, this is Atlantis,” he said. There was no answer. “Stargate Command… can anyone hear me?” Nothing.

“Rodney, what’s going on?” John pressed starting to get worried. 

Rodney’s eyes stayed fixed on the screen in front of him while his fingers worked on the laptop.

“Rodney…” Teyla started.

“Oh God,” Rodney muttered, interrupting her.

“What?” John and Ronon asked, both sounding frustrated.

Rodney turned to them, a blank look on his face, then he seemed to shake it off, pressed a few buttons and gestured at a big screen, which now showed a map with a large red x marking a location.

“There’s been an explosion,” he stated just as another screen came to life showing a news report.

“Isn’t that Cheyenne Mountain?” Jennifer asked over the frantic news reporter’s announcement. 

Rodney nodded. “And I can’t reach Stargate Command.”

“Stargate Command, this is Sheppard, do you read?” John immediately tried, but didn’t get an answer either.

“Crap,” he muttered, then turned to Rodney. “How big?”

“How big what?” 

“The explosion,” John gritted. The news report barely showed more than smoke from a distance.

“I don’t know. Big,” Rodney stammered.

John frowned, then turned around. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” Rodney asked.

“The SGC,” John stated in a matter of fact tone before glancing back. “Call the General, send all available teams to the jumper bay, and turn the damn alarm off.” That said he looked at Ronon and Teyla. “You two are coming with me.”

“I’m coming, too,” Jennifer objected. 

John briefly glanced at her and nodded. They might need her. 

As they headed out of the control room Jennifer contacted the infirmary, asking for help and supplies to be brought to the jumper bay.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 2 (after the attack) - Atlantis:**

Lieutenant General Jack O’Neill entered the conference room where their guest was waiting. The room was small and had a round table, but they wouldn’t need more.

“Major Finn, thank you for joining us,” he said looking at the younger man. 

“Happy to help, Sir,” Riley Finn stated before glancing to the laptop on the table. A technician had brought it in earlier and set up a live feed. Seeing the woman on the screen Riley swallowed. He hadn’t expected to see her ever again, hadn’t wanted to either.

“Where did you find her?” he asked. 

Right to the point, Jack thought. He already liked the man. They didn’t have time to waste, especially after the attack.

“The ruins of the headquarters of a top level, secure and very secret organisation. You were probably informed by your superiors about the bombing.”

“Not really, Sir. I am actually retired, but due to my history with the subject I was contacted and asked to assist you,” Riley answered, his eyes darting back to the screen, on which he could see Faith pacing her cell.

“History?” Jack asked raising an eyebrow.

Riley turned back to the General. “It’s complicated,” he said. What else was he supposed to say? I had sex with her while she had swapped bodies with my former girlfriend and pretended to be her? Yeah, right. He knew that the General had top level clearance and that he was allowed to talk about anything involving his military career and the supernatural, but he wasn’t willing to share that bit. It was too personal.

Noticing that the General didn’t look too happy he added: “Our encounter wasn’t a pleasant one, I assure you.” Well, that wasn’t completely true. He had kind of enjoyed it, until he found out what was really going on. 

“I was told that she was fighting for the right side now though,” he added. Willow had assured him that Faith was reformed when she told him that she magically erased Faith’s criminal record, plus apparently everything else about the slayer as well. The SGP – Stargate Program, whatever the hell that meant – which General O’Neill was in charge of, had captured Faith and tried to find out who she was. Unfortunately for them a powerful witch had erased every single record of the slayer’s existence, which meant they didn’t find anything. Not accepting that, they sent out a photo of Faith to all international agencies and military branches to get information. One of Riley’s former team mates, who was familiar with the slayers, had recognized her, which resulted in the SGP contacting Riley. 

“That would confirm what she said,” Jack said.

“What did she say?”

“That she was trying to stop the bombing.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that was basically it. She shut down pretty quickly, which is why we were hoping you could help us.”

Riley nodded. He might have left the military behind after Sam’s death, but if Faith was up to no good he would do everything he could to help these people. On the other hand, if Willow was right and Faith had changed, then he might be dealing with a shady military organisation again. In that case the slayer needed help. He wasn’t sure how he felt about helping her, but he guessed a phone call to Willow wouldn’t kill him.

“I will do my best, but first, who exactly am I helping?”

Jack smirked, liking the man even more. He obviously wasn’t the military kind who blindly followed orders and said yes to everything. Maybe he should offer the man a job if he proved useful in this. 

“That’s classified,” he said, turning slightly and reaching for the non-disclosure agreement.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Faith was lead back to the interrogation room by four soldiers. She briefly wondered if she should try to take them down. They might be well trained, but she was a slayer. On the other hand they were human and she didn’t want to harm them if she could help it. Besides, she still didn’t feel that well. Broken bones needed time to heal, slayer or no slayer. She probably could be lucky that she survived the bombing at all. It felt like the whole underground complex started to come down around her. There probably wasn’t much left of it now. She was even a little surprised that anyone found her down there at all.

Once in the interrogation room she took a seat and waited, her hand rose to her necklace and played around with it. Her captors hadn’t taken it from her, which was a plus. For a moment Faith considered breaking the pendant and releasing the magic within it. Willow would be able to pick it up and they’d come and get her. But for now Faith wasn’t sure what was going on or if she could escape on her own. She could try once her arm was healed. If she could get out of this mess without getting the others involved she’d do it. She didn’t want to put them in danger, and she didn’t want to be the damsel in distress who called for help either. Buffy would have a field day about it.

When the door opened Faith tried to put a bored look on her face. She wasn’t going to let them get to her. But then she saw the man entering the room and froze.

“Riley,” she breathed silently, her eyes fixed on him. She hadn’t thought she’d see him again and hadn’t really wanted to either, not after what she did to him… and did _with_ him. She glanced down as memories came rushing at her, memories of him in bed, as he made love to her. It hadn’t been just sex, not the way she was used to it. It was more, it was _love_. She could feel it in the way he touched her and looked at her. Unfortunately it hadn’t actually been directed at her. He hadn’t meant her, but Buffy, whose body she had been in at the time. But even though it hadn’t been her he loved, Faith had never managed to forget the night they spent together, forget how it felt to be loved and treated that way. At the time it had scared her and she ran. Later it was kind of the standard she set for a man. No one ever touched and treated her that way, so all they got from her was sex. Robin was the only one that came close, which was the reason she let him past her defences and started to care about him. She sighed and clenched her fist under the table, pushing away the memories. Thinking about both Robin and Riley was a bad idea.

“So, you do remember me. Good,” Riley said and sat down opposite her, his eyes fixed on her face. When he first entered the room her face was a mask of nonchalance, but it changed when she saw him. He wasn’t really sure what she thought or felt, but he had seen some kind of emotion, which gave him hope that Faith wasn’t up to no good again.

Faith snorted slightly. As if she could ever forget _him_. He was the standard men in her life had to live up to, which was sort of pathetic, wasn’t it? Well, she didn’t have time to ponder that now.

“You’re working with them?” she asked gesturing around.

“Sort of,” Riley answered truthfully. “I’m helping out.” After what General O’Neill told him about the Stargate Program he was definitely on their side. They were keeping humanity save, not from demons or other supernatural creatures, but from _aliens_. He guessed he should have seen that one coming. The world was simply too strange for aliens not to be real.

“So, they can be trusted?” Faith added.

Riley stared at her, surprised that she asked him that. That kind of implied that she trusted him, didn’t it?

“I think so. Yes, I’m pretty sure they can be trusted, with everything,” he stated leaning back in his chair. “Which is why I am here helping them interrogate a prisoner who they think blew up their secret military base.”

Faith snorted once more. “Do I look stupid enough to blow up an underground building I am in?”

Riley smirked slightly before leaning in close. “Not really your style, is it? You prefer body snatching, right?”

Faith glared at him. Did he have to bring that up _now_? There were cameras like everywhere in this place. 

“You want to talk about that now? Fine by me. Come on, lay it all on the table, soldier boy. Want to know why I did what I did, if I’d do it again… or maybe if I _liked it_?” Two could play at that game and she’d be damned if she let him make her uncomfortable. She might hate herself for what she did in the past, but she had started to make amends. She was a better person now, and even though Riley had every right to hate her, she wasn’t about to let him humiliate her in the middle of this sci-fi military organisation with Big Brother watching. If he wanted to he could tell her just what he thought about her once they were out of here. She’d take it, because she deserved it. But it was no one elses business. 

Riley stared at her, then cleared his throat. He was not going to start wondering if she _liked it_! Besides, who cared? This was Faith, the woman who had tricked him, seduced him and almost broken up a relationship he really cared about at the time. And that was apart from everything else she did.

“I’m here about the bombing,” he stated, keeping his face carefully neutral.

“Alright,” Faith said. She preferred to talk about that as well.

“If you didn’t do it, what were you doing there?”

“I tried to stop it.”

“You just happened to know that someone was going to blow up the SGC and decided to go and stop it on your own? And how did you even get in there?”

“Of course not. I only knew that _something_ was going down. And I did have help from Willow. She told me how to get in.”

Riley raised an eyebrow. “Willow knew how to get into the SGC?”

“Hacked the place, found blueprints, gave me some magical helpers.”

“Does she have any idea what the SGC is about?”

Faith shrugged. “She might, since she hacked them, but she was kind of busy. Demonic upheaval in Africa, you know,” she stated as if that explained everything. He had said that these people could be trusted with everything, so she guessed they did know about the supernatural.

Riley sighed, not wanting to think about any demonic activities at all. A demon had killed Sam, so he hated them more than any other creatures. Apart from that it was irrelevant right now.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning? How did you find out that something was going to happen at the SGC, why did you try to stop it and what happened once you were there?”

Faith nodded, sat up straighter and started talking. She told him about Robin’s death; how she found out that he had been investigating something and about finding his laptop with information about a ring of shapeshifters who were targeting specific organisations.

\----- ----- 

Jack walked into the interrogation room, followed by Sam who had joined him in observing the interrogation from the next room. He was actually surprised at how forthcoming Faith was all of a sudden. She was either playing them or she trusted Riley Finn, no matter their past, and there was definitely a _past_ there. He would have to find out more about that, but that could wait until later. For now he had a more pressing question.

“Did you just say Ba’al?” he asked looking at their prisoner.

Faith glanced up when two people stormed into the room. They didn’t introduce themselves, but she guessed they were in charge of this place; they just gave off that vibe. She nodded at the man who had spoken.

“I don’t really know who that is. I just found the name in Robin’s notes. Willow said…” she explained looking from the two strangers back to Riley. “… that Ba’al might reference to a bunch of old mythological gods or even a demon, one of the seven princes of hell. She wanted to talk to Giles about it as soon as she found time.”

Glancing to the strangers again Faith shrugged. “Could just be a name, but with my luck and judging from the fact that Robin was concerned about it and probably got killed because of it my guess is on ‘prince of hell’.”

“More like Goa’uld System Lord,” Sam stated with a frown before glancing to Jack.

“’Prince of Hell’ sounds about right to me,” Jack answered. They had sent the Goa’uld to hell already after all, and not just once. When would the damn Goa’uld finally stay gone for good?

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 2 - Atlantis Gate room:**

“Unscheduled Off-World activation,” Chuck informed just as the Stargate started to rotate.

Teyla who had been on her way to General O’Neill’s office stopped and changed directions. They might still have two SG teams off-world. They had been able to gain access to some of Stargate Command’s files, but not all of them. It was unclear if two teams had made it back to the SGC in the last four hours prior to the attack, and since part of the SGC had been completely vaporized by the bomb the body count might not be accurate either.

Staring at the spinning gate hope rushed through Teyla. Maybe they were lucky…

“It’s Daniel Jackson’s identification code.”

“Lower the shield,” Teyla called as a smile appeared on her face and relief washed through her.

“They’re coming in hot,” Chuck warned.

“Of course they are,” Jack stated dryly as he walked over to Teyla and drew his weapon. With their current situation the gate room security was strapped dangerously thin. 

Pulling her own weapon Teyla followed the General’s example and ducked out of the way of the gates direct line of fire. She wasn’t a second too late either as shots entered the gate room through the wormhole. Then people jumped through the gate and landed on the ground one after the other.

“Shut it down!” Colonel Mitchell yelled as soon as he hit the ground. Then he pushed himself up and looked around in surprise before his eyes went over to his team mates. 

“Everyone alright?” he called.

“You mean apart from the fact that we nearly ended up on the plate of cannibals?” Daniel Jackson asked while getting up. 

“Yeah, apart form that,” Cam amended.

“Then we’re fine,” Daniel stated dryly.

Teyla smirked slightly as she walked towards the group, her eyes fixing on Teal’c. She hadn’t really admitted it even to herself, but she had been worried about him the most. They had become close over the past years, sparring together, sharing stories about their worlds and enjoying the strangeness of the alien planet they now lived on together. Teal’c had shown, explained and told her a lot about Earth, since he lived on the planet far longer than she did. 

Holding out her hand to him she waited for him to take it, then helped him up. Once he stood she looked him over closely. He seemed uninjured. Good.

“I am fine, Teyla Emmagan,” Teal’c said smiling down at her.

“You’re late,” Jack stated. Not that he minded. If they had been on time they probably would have been at the SGC when the bomb went off. Jack didn’t even want to think about that. He had been way too worried for the past days already anyway. 

“Yeah, thought you would have sent someone to get us by now…”

“Like two _days_ ago,” Vala complained dusting off her trousers.

“… but I guess you were too busy ‘redecorating’,” Cam finished, ignoring Vala and gesturing around.

“Yeah, what’s going on with that,” Daniel added. “Since when do we gate from or to Atlantis?” The SGC’s Stargate was programmed to be the primary gate, with Atlantis the backup in case of emergencies only. Hopefully that didn’t mean that this was an emergency. The look on his former team mate’s face however suggested just that.

“Jack?” he asked.

“Stargate Command has been destroyed,” Jack said, his voice hoarse.

“Come again?” Cam muttered. He must have heard wrong.

“That’s a really lousy joke,” Vala remarked. “It is a joke, right?”

“Unfortunately not,” Teyla said.

“Let’s get you to the infirmary, checked out and ready for debrief,” Jack announced gesturing towards the hall to the infirmary.

“Jack,” Daniel objected. “What happened?”

“Now,” Jack ordered sounding more frustrated than intended. He knew well how it was to come back from a mission and want answers only to be told to get checked out first even though you knew very well that you were just fine. He had been in the same situation hundreds of times, and he felt with them, he really did. But since Hank Landry died in the bombing he was in charge of the Stargate Program once more, in addition to Homeland Command. It was his job to make sure the remaining members of the Stargate Program were safe, which right now meant ordering his old team to their routine check up. He wouldn’t risk losing one of them just because he let the rules slack.

“I will join you and answer your questions on the way,” Teyla offered.

“Fine,” Cam muttered and started to walk off. Vala and Daniel followed.

“How many died?” Teal’c asked.

Hearing his words Teyla glanced up at him, then took his hand and squeezed gently.

“Too many,” she answered while starting to walk.

“Debrief at 1700,” Jack called after them. He wished he could walk with them like Teyla did, answer their questions himself, but he had too much to do. Two jobs in the middle of a crisis situation were tough to handle. 

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 2 - Atlantis conference room – evening:**

“You’ve got Robin’s laptop,” Faith stated as Colonel Carter placed it on the table next to her. She had told them yesterday where to find it. Since whoever killed Robin had blown up these peoples secret base Faith guessed that they were on the same side. Or maybe it was because Riley seemed to trust them. No matter the reason she had decided to work with them instead of against them. They might be able to help her get Robin’s killer. Usually she preferred to work alone, but this thing was big, and the slayers and watchers had enough to deal with already. Maybe she didn’t need to involve them.

“Tried to get into it, too,” Sam said. “And didn’t manage.” Whoever protected that laptop was really, really good. Sam already wanted to meet whoever did it.

Faith glanced at her. She had a feeling that that statement from Colonel Carter implied that they usually got into pretty much everything. Yeah, they seemed like the kind of people who employed only the best. A small smile appeared on her face. But Willow was better. She felt proud of her friend and watcher.

“It’s probably magically protected,” Riley offered.

“Might be,” Faith shrugged. But Willow was a genius when it came to computers, so she might just protect the watcher council’s files in a regular way. Faith never really asked or cared how it was done.

“I have the password though,” she added, leaned over and typed it in.

“Thank you,” Sam said. Apparently Faith really had decided to cooperate with them.

“There are dozens of files in here,” Faith said opening a folder before leaning back in her chair and letting the Colonel have a look at them.

“I didn’t have time to check them all properly myself. When I found the list with the date and location of the bombing I knew I had to check that out first,” she explained, then added: “Sorry I didn’t get there sooner.” There were a lot of people in that building when it blew up, and most weren’t as lucky as Faith had been or had slayer healing. They were dead or severely injured. Faith wished she could have prevented that. She should have. It was her job as a slayer. She protected innocents, and she had failed.

Riley looked at Faith, surprised by her words and the look on her face. She really did seem to have changed.

“It’s not your fault,” Sam said noticing the look on the younger woman’s face. She knew it well, had worn it herself more than once. 

“You tried to help and you are helping now. With this information we might be able to stop whoever did this and prevent it from happening again.” No more people had to die… hopefully.

\----- -----

About half an hour later they were sitting around the conference table, printed out files scattered all over the table. Sam had called in several people to help sort through the information.

“I knew that name sounded familiar,” Daniel Jackson stated looking up from his laptop.

Several faces turned to him.

“What name?” Sam asked.

“Wo Fat. He is listed as a close associate to Ba’al. The name sounded familiar, so I googled him. He’s a criminal and rumoured to have been caught at last,” Daniel informed them.

“Where is he held?” Riley wanted to know.

“I don’t know. Seems to be top secret.”

“Let’s find out and get this guy. He might be our best lead to Ba’al,” Sam stated.

Daniel nodded. Hopefully Sam was right. They needed to find Ba’al. This time he really went too far. Daniel wanted to strangle the Goa’uld with his own hands. Maybe that would finally stop him. How many times did they have to kill him anyway? The bastard was supposed to be dead, and that included the original Goa’uld as well as all clones! Apparently they had been wrong again.

\---------------------------------------

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	2. Five-0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> Hawaii Five-0: Adam Noshimuri, Danny Williams, Kono Kalakaua, Chin Ho Kelly, Steve McGarrett, Wo Fat  
> Stargateverse: Jack O'Neill, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Sam Carter, Teyla Emmagan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this chapter again! :-)

**Day 2 - Puddle Jumper – on its way to Hawaii:**

“We should go surfing here some day,” John said as they approached Hawaii in a cloaked jumper, so nobody would be able to see their approach. “The waves are amazing.”

“I wish we could have come during the day,” Teyla said. “I heard this place is beautiful.”

“It is,” John agreed. “But this is important. Who knows when Ba’al might decide to break this Wo Fat character out of prison. We need to get him now. Next day off though, we’re all coming here for a little vacation.” He grinned before pulling up some data on the screen. He needed to know how to find the prison and where best to hide the jumper. They could leave it cloaked of course, but being invisible wouldn’t help if someone ran against it.

A map of the city and coast below appeared on the screen. John was about to check for a landing place when Ronon appeared next to him and pointed at the far left side of the screen.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“A boat I think, why?” John answered not really paying much attention to it.

“Isn’t that a human life sign?” Ronon added pointing close to the boat.

“Of course it’s human. There aren’t any aliens nearby. Present company excluded of course,” John stated with a smirk. _Well, hopefully_ , he added in thoughts. Who knew how many Goa’uld Ba’al had on the planet and how many of them were already on their way to get Wo Fat?

“That’s not what I meant,” Ronon said. “The life sign is in the water.”

“And the boat appears to be leaving,” Teyla added, understanding what Ronon had seen. “It seems to be rather far from the coast. Can someone swim that far?”

John looked at the life sign in the ocean and frowned. 

“The better question would be: Why would anyone want to in the dark?” He had a bad feeling about this. “Let’s check it out.” If it was just a crazy person taking a late night swim they could stay cloaked and leave without anyone noticing. If someone was in trouble, well it was their duty to help, wasn’t it?

Flying towards the life sign John made the jumper hover just above the ocean. 

“Looks like whoever is down there is under water,” he stated, looking out into the inky darkness of the sea.

“Open the hatch,” Ronon said while walking to the back and grabbing a flash light.

“We’re directly above the life sign now,” John called lowering the catch.

Ronon nodded at John, then jumped out of the ship.

Walking to the back of the jumper Teyla looked out, waiting impatiently as time passed. She was just starting to think that she should join Ronon when her friend appeared, and he wasn’t alone.

“Anything?” John called from the front of the jumper.

“Ronon has her,” Teyla called. “She seems to be bound.”

John narrowed his eyes at hearing that. He felt vindicated in his suspicion. Holding the jumper in place he turned to the back of the ship and watched as Teyla helped Ronon get the woman inside.

“She’s not breathing,” Teyla said while getting rid of the duct tape over the woman’s mouth.

“You know CPR, right?” John wanted to know while making the jumper check for local hospitals. 

Teyla glared at him. “Sergeant Bates made sure every team member did,” she stated not too happily before performing four rescue breaths, then beginning chest compressions.

John had a feeling that Sergeant Bates had been less than friendly when requesting Teyla learned CPR. Maybe he had hoped to find a reason to ban her from being part of a team. As if Teyla would fail to excel at anything.

They were heading towards the closest hospital when John heard coughing from the back of the jumper. He guessed that meant their guest was awake. Good for her, probably not so good for him. She couldn’t have waited and woken up once they landed and had gotten her out of the highly classified puddle jumper, could she? Of course not. He was sure General O’Neill or Sam would give him an ear-full about this later. But what were they supposed to do, let her drown?

\----- -----

Kono coughed, trying to catch her breath, then glanced around. She had no idea where she was. 

“Welcome back,” a woman Kono had never seen before said. “Please do not be alarmed. I am Teyla Emmagan, and these are my friends Ronon Dex…” She gestured at the long-haired man next to her who was dripping water. Kono guessed he must have been the one to get her out of the ocean… _the ocean_. That asshole had actually dumped her into the ocean and left her! “… and Colonel John Sheppard.” Teyla gestured behind her to the far end of… whatever the hell they were in.

“What…” Kono started, but didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Her mind was spinning and she just didn’t know what to ask first. What happened? Where was she? And especially what the hell could this thing they were in possibly be? It looked… kind of sci-fi.

“We found you in the ocean,” the woman continued.

“Bound and gagged,” the man – Ronon, if Kono remembered right – said.

“Yeah, why exactly was that?” John called from the front of the jumper while glancing over his shoulder.

Kono turned to him, glaring a little. That’s what she would like to know. Why had she been abducted and used to threaten her cousin Chin? And by whom? Did these people have anything to do with it? But why would they rescue her if they did?

“Who says you’re the one who gets to ask the questions?” she asked while pushing herself up, then stumbled slightly and had to lean against the wall. Were they on a boat? Whatever they were in was definitely moving.

“I do,” John stated. “You know, since we went to all that trouble of saving you in the middle of a highly classified mission and all.” _Risking exposure in the process_ , he added in thoughts. At least the woman didn’t seem to need to go to the hospital anymore. Letting the prison doctor have a quick look at her should be enough, and maybe afterwards they could take her with them and have someone deal with getting her to sign a non-disclosure agreement. 

“Classified?” Kono asked. Yeah, somehow she really didn’t doubt that. Whatever kind of boat they were in, it screamed classified. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. The question now was if this classified mission had anything to do with her and Chin… oh god, Chin! She needed to make sure he was alright.

“So, since you went through all that trouble to save me, like you said, I can assume you’re _not_ in league with whoever dumped me in the ocean,” she said in more of a statement than a question.

“Correct,” John answered.

“Good, cause I need to call my cousin. You got a phone in this highly classified boat?”

“Why?” John asked not correcting the _boat_ comment.

“Because I was kidnapped, bound and dumped in the ocean. And whoever is behind it was threatening my cousin. I need to make sure he is okay.”

John glanced at her. He liked her priorities. She didn’t freak out about the ship she was in, didn’t ask questions about it or how they found her in the dark to fish her out of the ocean. She concentrated on what was most important.

“I don’t have to tell you not to mention any of _this_ ,” he stated gesturing around. “Right?” It would probably be better not to let her talk to anyone before she signed a non-disclosure agreement, but she had been dumped in the ocean and left to die. If her cousin was in the same kind of danger he might be dead before the agreement was signed. John didn’t want that on his conscience. He was already carrying enough guilt around for a lifetime.

“Buddy, I really could care less about your highly classified mission right now,” Kono stated, feeling a little exasperated. “And no, I won’t mention this,” she added, just in case he needed it spelled out.

John nodded. That was good enough for him… for now.

“What’s the number?”

Kono gave it to him, expecting him to pull out a phone, headset, or maybe type it into the boats communication system. He didn’t, in fact she didn’t really see him do anything. However, she did hear a ringing tone over the boats communication system soon. Weird. How did that work? She briefly glanced at the other two, who were now sitting down. Maybe one of them started the call.

The ringing continued as Kono made her way to the front of the boat and sat down in a chair next to Colonel Sheppard. That was when she got a good look out of the ‘boat’. “Woah,” she muttered. They were _not_ in a boat. They were _flying_! And right now they landed in a deserted alley near the local prison. Kono was just about to ask what the hell was going on when Chin picked up.

 _“Hello?”_ The edgy tone in his voice made Kono snap out of it. Chin was what was important now.

“Chin, it’s Kono…” 

_“Kono! Cuz, are you alright?”_ he asked immediately, interrupting her.

“I’m fine, Chin,” she assured him.

 _“Thank god,”_ he answered, relief evident in his voice.

“What about you? And what happened?” she wanted to know.

_“I’m… okay. But Malia was shot. We’re on the way to the hospital now.”_

Kono’s eyes widened. “Is she going to be okay?” _Please_ don’t let her die, she thought. Chin and Malia had just gotten married and were finally happy after what happened in the past. Chin deserved to be happy, and he loved Malia with his whole heart. She simply couldn’t die now.

 _“I hope so,”_ was all he said.

So it was bad, Kono thought balling her fists. Whoever was behind this was going to wish they were dead.

_“It was Frank Delano, Kono.”_

“What? How the hell did he get out of prison?” she asked in disbelief. They had brought the former police officer down and locked him up months ago.

 _“I got him out. He had you and Malia, Kono,”_ Chin said, his voice breaking slightly.

Kono closed her eyes, sighing. So that was why she had been kidnapped. And since she went undercover to bring Delano down he was majorly pissed at her of course, which meant he wanted her dead no matter what Chin did.

_“I’m sorry, Kono. But I gotta go now. Malia…”_

“It’s okay Cuz, take care of her. I’ll call Steve and Danny and we’ll get Delano,” she assured him. _And she was going to figure out what this classified shit was all about_ , she added in thoughts. _Just another day on the job…_

\----- -----

John had listened closely to what they talked about. It sounded like they were in serious trouble.

“You two cops or something?” he asked.

Kono nodded. “Five-0.” Seeing his blank look she added: “The Governor’s Task Force. I’m Officer Kalakaua.”

“Ah,” John nodded, remembering now. “You were the ones who caught Wo Fat.”

“What do you know about Wo Fat?” Kono asked suspiciously.

“He’s the reason we’re here. We’re picking him up.”

Kono stared at him. “What for?” she demanded to know, feeling uneasy.

“He’s in league with someone we need to find.”

“You’re not cutting him a deal for information!” she exclaimed angrily. They had been after Wo Fat for too long. He was _not_ going to weasel his way out of prison after they finally caught him!

“That’s not the plan,” John quickly assured her. “We’re the good guys here. And trust me, the guy we’re after is a lot worse than Wo Fat.”

Somehow Kono doubted that, but if it was true she didn’t even want to imagine what that man was like.

“Alright, we can talk about this later. I need to call my colleague and boss. We need to catch Delano.”

John nodded, pulling out his mobile this time and handing it to her. “Go ahead. You can do that on the way to the prison.” They didn’t have time to waste, and before Officer Kalakaua signed a non-disclosure agreement he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. Besides, he was going to have the prison doctor check her out. He wasn’t going to risk that she had water in her lungs and died in her sleep after they pulled her out of the water.

“Teyla, you’re staying with the jumper until we’re back,” John said as he got up and walked through the ship. 

Teyla nodded. She would prefer to go with them, but someone should stay with the jumper, make sure no one found it by accident.

They were just exiting the jumper when sirens erupted from the direction of the prison. John groaned. That was not a good sign!

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Hawaii – Detective Danny Williams’ car:**

“You’re where?” Danny asked incredulously. He was on the way to Five-0 headquarters after getting a call from Kono, who asked him to inform Steve of what happened, too.

 _“Japan,”_ was Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett’s answer over the phone.

“I heard you the first time,” Danny muttered, feeling agitated and even more frustrated than he already had. Why the hell had Steve run off without telling him where he went… _again_?

_“Then why…”_

“What the hell are you doing in Japan… again?” Danny demanded to know, cutting Steve off. “No, don’t tell me, I really don’t want to know. Besides, you better get your ass back here NOW! We’ve got some serious trouble.”

_“Danny, I…”_

“Oh no, you ARE going to come back,” Danny stated firmly, recognizing Steve’s tone of voice. It was the ‘you are not going to like what I have to say, Danno’ voice. “Shit is going down big time, Steve, and when I say big time, I mean _really_ big time. Frank Delano is on the run, Kono has been kidnapped and almost drowned, Malia was shot, a secret military branch wants to talk to us, and oh, Wo Fat is on the run, too! So, yes, Steve, whatever the hell you’re doing in Japan… _again_ … will have to wait.”

 _“I’m on my way to the airport,”_ Steve stated, not sounding pleased. _“But now slow down and tell me what the hell happened! Are Kono and Malia okay?”_

“Kono is fine and Malia is in the hospital,” Danny said, then started to relay to Steve what Kono had told him.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 2/3 - Atlantis – a balcony:**

General Jack O’Neill looked up when he heard footsteps coming closer. He groaned slightly. It was the middle of the night. He just wanted to enjoy a few minutes of uninterrupted solitude outside before going to bed. It had been a long day, or rather long _days_. He could hardly remember the last time he had had a good nights sleep. Couldn’t they just leave him alone for today?

“Jack,” a voice said and he looked up, a small smile appearing on his face. Maybe he didn’t need to be alone after all.

“Sam.” _She_ was definitely always welcome, no matter how tired Jack felt.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any good news,” she said sitting down next to him.

Jack groaned. “Of course not,” he muttered.

“Wo Fat escaped before John’s team got to the prison.”

Jack closed his eyes for a moment. “Of course he did,” he stated sarcastically. Why would they catch a break now?

“John, Teyla and Ronon are still in Hawaii, working with the local Governor’s Task Force to catch him. They are the ones who caught him in the first place.”

“They think he’s still on the island?” Jack asked.

“Yes. HPD is monitoring the airports and all streets out of the city. But…” she didn’t have to complete her sentence.

“Yeah,” Jack muttered. They both knew that Ba’al might have ways of getting in and out of a city that didn’t involve human transportation. If he really wanted Wo Fat off Hawaii the man might be far away already.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Sam offered.

“Maybe,” Jack agreed. They had to catch a break any day now, right?

Taking a deep breath of fresh sea air Jack looked out at the ocean as they fell into companionable silence. His hand found hers instinctively, as if it had a mind of its own. Jack knew he probably shouldn’t hold Sam’s hand out in the open, but it was dark, and he honestly didn’t care, not anymore. They had kept their feelings bottled up inside for too long. When he left the SGC and took over Homeworld Command they finally started a relationship, but with their work schedules they barely saw each other. He had been due to retire in two weeks, and they were finally going to be together for good. That was before Stargate Command had been blown up. He should have known that it wasn’t a good idea to try and retire. Something bad always happened when he did. And this time it was _really_ bad. Hank Landry was dead, which meant Jack was back in charge of the Stargate Program. He hadn’t been able to turn down the offer. He didn’t really trust anyone else enough to do the job right now. Still, he wasn’t going to give up his relationship with Sam for it. He was done pretending they were just friends. They’d keep it on the down-low, but if someone found out they would just have to deal with it. There wasn’t anyone else with Jack’s kind of experience who could do his job… either of his jobs, so he wasn’t too worried about him being replaced. They needed team leaders badly, too, so Sam’s job was pretty save as well.

Sam smiled when he took her hand, glad that he wasn’t trying to go back to being just friends. She honestly didn’t think she could take that anymore.

“I’m going to leave you in charge tomorrow,” he said after a while. “I’ve decided to do some recruiting by myself. Since Ba’al is involved we can’t rule out a plot to get spies into the Stargate Program. The more personnel I pick myself the better I’m going to feel.”

“Me, too,” Sam agreed. She trusted Jack’s judgement. Still, she wished they didn’t have to do any recruiting at all. She already missed their old colleagues terribly.

“When is the funeral going to start?” she asked.

“0900, the day after tomorrow. Afterwards the new recruits are coming in for tests,” he answered.

Sam sighed. “I’m sure we’ll find good people,” she said hoping to sound reassuring. Then she leaned in closer and added: “Come on, let’s go to bed.” It was getting really late.

“Mine or yours?” he asked flippantly.

Sam chuckled. Trust Jack to brighten up the mood. “So we’re doing the whole sneaking around thing now,” she stated. “I think I like it.”

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 - Hawaii – Five-0 headquarters:**

“I don’t get it, where the hell are they?” Kono muttered frustrated. They had tried to find both Wo Fat and Delano for hours, interviewed the usual suspects for information and even locked down the local airport and harbor. It was amazing what you could get done with a secret military organization on your side. She had a feeling that they might not just have a governor on speed dial, but the president himself. On the other hand that kind of implied that whoever they were after was really, _really_ dangerous.

“Hiding somewhere, trying to wait this out,” Danny suggested eyeing their ‘guests’ suspiciously. So far they had done nothing but help. Still, he had no idea what their ulterior motives were. Why were they here? What exactly did they want from Wo Fat? And who the hell were they anyway? “If we had more information about the man helping Wo Fat we might be able to find him faster,” he said casually.

Teyla smirked. She kind of liked the Detective, and she did like Kono as well. Maybe they should tell them more, but it wasn’t her decision. She glanced at John.

“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” John said walking towards them. “Just got confirmation to read you in.” He had barely finished that sentence when the printer in the office came to life.

Kono and Danny both turned to the printer surprised.

“Non-disclosure agreements,” John stated.

A moment later Rodney appeared on a big screen via live feed from Atlantis.

“How…” Kono muttered.

“Oh, please, your security is a joke,” Rodney stated. “Well, maybe not a joke, it’s actually quite good, but for me…”

“Rodney,” John said in a reprimanding tone of voice.

“Fine,” Rodney muttered crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning back in his chair. “Have they signed the non-disclosure agreements yet?”

“Still printing,” Ronon stated. 

“Dr. Rodney McKay, Officer Kono Kalakaua, Detective Danny Williams,” Teyla said gesturing at each of them in introduction.

\----- -----

“You believe them?” Danny asked as he joined Kono in the kitchen area. “I mean, _aliens_? And _Atlantis_!” It sounded like a bad joke, or out of a Science Fiction movie.

“You haven’t seen their invisible space ship,” Kono stated.

“Seriously?” Danny asked.

“Oh yeah,” Kono answered.

“Wow… just wow,” Danny muttered. All that was missing now were witches and vampires.

“Yeah, it’s hard to wrap your head around,” Kono agreed while peering at her mobile, which showed that she had a message. “I need to call Adam.”

“Why?” Danny wanted to know, not sounding too happy. He still couldn’t believe that Kono could actually date the son of the head of the local Yakuza. Granted, he wasn’t as bad as his father, but still… he wasn’t a saint either.

“We were supposed to have a date, but I got kidnapped,” Kono stated. Adam was probably worried about her. She glanced at her watch. It was still very early, but if he hadn’t shown up for a date she’d be worried and wouldn’t care if he woke her up.

“Whatever,” Danny muttered. “I’ll go entertain our alien hunters.”

\----- -----

Kono stormed back into the room and looked at the grumpy scientist on the screen. “Can you trace the phone I last called?”

“Why?” Rodney asked sounding irritated.

“Just do it, McKay,” Kono told him firmly.

Rodney glanced at John, looking exasperated.

“What she said,” John stated with a smirk before turning to Teyla and whispering: “I like her.” Teyla smiled, amused.

“Fine,” Rodney muttered, complying. “Number?”

“What’s going on?” Danny asked after Kono gave McKay the number.

“I think the Yakuza has Wo Fat,” Kono stated. Adam hadn’t admitted anything, but Kono had heard some of his men talking in the background. 

Danny stared at her. He should have thought of that. Adam hated Wo Fat almost as much as Steve did. He probably had some of his men watching the prison, in case Wo Fat escaped. The man didn’t trust the system much. Danny couldn’t fault him for that right now. On the other hand, Wo Fat had _extraterrestrial_ help. They couldn’t blame the prison for losing him in that case, right? _Yes, they could_ , Danny decided.

“Let’s go,” John said after Rodney gave them a location.

“Are we going to take your highly classified space ship?” Danny asked, not sure how he’d feel about that.

“Why? Not in the mood to fly?” John asked.

“Er…” Danny muttered.

“You can walk if you prefer that,” Ronon stated.

“I do have a _car_ ,” Danny pointed out just before his mobile rang. “It’s Steve,” he said while following the others.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 - Hawaii - Yakuza hideout:**

Gun in hand Kono hid behind a pillar. They were in some kind of warehouse. Adam was standing a few feet away. Wo Fat was bound to a chair, looking bloody and beaten up. Adam’s men didn’t seem to care and continued hitting him. Kono gritted her teeth. She hated Wo Fat and he certainly deserved torture in her opinion, but she wouldn’t do it herself, and she really didn’t like that Adam ordered it. He had assured her over and over again that he wasn’t like his father. She had believed him, wanted to believe him, because how else could she date him? Part of her had always warned her to stay away from him, but he was charming, good looking and could be rather funny. She had let him fool her. But that was over now. She had forgiven him too much already. Capturing Wo Fat and not telling her was the last straw!

Glancing around Kono saw Colonel Sheppard give his people and Danny signs. Soon they had Adam, his men and Wo Fat surrounded. Then one of the Yakuza must have spotted one of them and started shooting. In a matter of seconds all hell broke loose. 

“Adam, tell them to stop and surrender,” Kono called. Adam spun around and looked at her, a pained expression on his face.

“Kono,” he muttered.

“Do it!” she ordered, her voice firm and cold. She wouldn’t betray any emotion, not this time.

Ordering his men to stop shooting Adam looked at Kono. “We were just…”

“What, having some fun?” she asked bitterly. He simply shrugged. Danny made a step out from where he was hiding, handcuffs in hand, then shots erupted again. 

“No, stop it,” Adam called, but no one was listening to him. _Great_ , Kono thought firing her own weapon and hitting the man shooting at Danny.

“Don’t hit Wo Fat,” John called loudly. He thought he heard Ronon mutter ‘fine’ and turn his gun to stun. Good! Maybe they all should have taken Zat guns along. On the other hand, if Wo Fat was hit with one of those twice he’d be dead, not stunned. Maybe bullets were better after all.

About five minutes later all of Adam’s men were on the ground, either unconscious or holding their bleeding wounds. Wo Fat still sat in his chair, breathing. Kono didn’t know if he had been hit in the crossfire, since he was pretty bloody to begin with. Glancing around she looked for Adam, who was nowhere in sight. Then she heard a shot and rushed off in that direction.

“I don’t think so,” a voice called.

“Steve,” Kono said giving her boss a smile. He was blocking the exit and had apparently fired a warning shot. Adam was standing between Steve and her, his hands raised in surrender.

“Ah, there you are,” Danny said walking towards them. “What took you so long?”

Steve smirked slightly. “Book ‘em Danno.”

Kono would have laughed if it hadn’t been such a long and tiring day, or better _days_.

\----- -----

A few minutes later Adam, the Yakuza and Wo Fat were all in cuffs and HPD sirens could be heard in the distance. Teyla and Ronon were both holding Wo Fat. Kono wasn’t sure if it was to make sure he wouldn’t escape or to hold him up.

“So, what’s going on?” Steve asked. “And where are you planning to go with Wo Fat?” He was feeling a little irritated. He had just found out that his mother was alive and in fact the mysterious Shellbourne when Danny called him, telling him what was happening in Hawaii. Finding out that Wo Fat was on the loose again Joe had relocated Steve’s mother once more while Steve flew back to Hawaii on a Navy plane. 

“Sorry, can’t tell you,” Danny stated.

Steve looked at his partner irritably. Now was really not the time for Danny to sulk about him running off on his own again!

“You haven’t signed one of those at least a dozen pages long non-disclosure agreements,” Danny elaborated.

Kono snorted and Steve gave her an irritably look.

“He’s not kidding. They really are that long. And if we tell you anything before you signed one I’m pretty sure they have the right to lock us up for good,” Kono explained gesturing at Sheppard and his people.

“Fine, just give me one of those agreements and I’ll sign it,” Steve muttered. He had been on enough classified missions to know the drill.

\---------------------------------------

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	3. Job Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> BTVS: Faith Lehane, Riley Finn, Willow Rosenberg  
> Hawaii Five-0: Danny Williams, Frank Delano, Grace Williams, Kamekona, Kono Kalakaua, Steve McGarrett, Wo Fat  
> Stargateverse: Chuck, Evan Lorne, Jack O'Neill, John Sheppard, Laura Cadman, Ronon Dex, Sam Carter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my wonderful beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this chapter! :-)

**Day 3 - Atlantis – holding cell area - morning:**

“What you’ll get for the information?” John echoed looking at Wo Fat, who had been cleaned and bandaged up after his encounter with the Yakuza. “How about we _don’t_ lock you up with a hungry life sucking Wraith,” he suggested, feeling annoyed. “Cause you know, we do have those around.” Well, they did have Todd, who was a Hybrid now, but he could still feed. Not that they’d actually let him feed on anyone. The thought was temping though.

Wo Fat looked at John as if he was crazy. Great, maybe the man actually had no idea that his boss was an alien and not just a human criminal? Not that it mattered, as long as Wo Fat gave them Ba’al’s location John could care less if he knew that Ba’al was a Goa’uld.

“Maybe I should ask the questions,” Ronon suggested, looking menacing.

“Not yet,” John decided, then left the cell. He had to talk to O’Neill. Maybe they could use some kind of truth serum. Wo Fat was pretty beat up already. Torture of any kind didn’t really seem like a good plan to John. Not that it ever was of course, but sometimes the ends justified the means in his line of work. They were fighting for the survival of the human race after all, and with Ba’al involved who knew what was at stake.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 - Atlantis – control room – morning:**

“Tell me you have good news,” Jack O'Neill said as he saw Sheppard coming towards him.

“Not yet,” John admitted. “So far Wo Fat isn’t talking. I was thinking about having the scientists come up with a truth serum.”

“Whatever it takes,” Jack stated. They needed to find Ba’al as quickly as possible, before the damn Goa’uld could get any further with his plan, and he _did_ have a plan, Jack was sure of it. The attack on Stargate Command surely was only the beginning. “Just get the information we need.”

“Yes, sir,” John said. “I’ll keep you updated.”

“Good. Now, tell me, what did you think about the Five-0 people,” Jack wanted to know. Sam had told him that Commander McGarrett was all over them, refusing to leave while Wo Fat was in their custody.

“Honestly, sir? I’d offer them a job,” John stated. “They are good in a crisis, and captured Wo Fat twice.” Yes, he and his team had helped, but without Five-0’s help John wasn’t sure if they would have found Wo Fat before the Yakuza got bored and killed him. 

“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Jack admitted. He had decided to think outside the box when it came to recruiting. If Ba’al was trying to get spies inside the Stargate Program it would be better to hire people Ba’al wouldn’t have thought of. And since they were sending civilian scientists off world, why not cops? If they were good enough to be on a Task Force, they probably were good enough for the SGP. Plus, they already signed the non-disclosure agreements.

John smiled, liking the idea of working with Kalakaua, Williams and McGarrett. Hopefully they’d take the job.

“Going somewhere?” John then asked, noticing the General’s uniform. It had to be official business for O’Neill to dress up.

“Just doing some recruiting,” Jack replied, then glanced to the technicians in the control room. “Ready?”

“Yes, sir. The Hammond is in orbit and ready to beam out.”

“Good. I’ll see you later, Colonel,” Jack said before glancing at the technician with a grin.

“Beam me out, Scotty.”

John snorted as the General disappeared in a bluish light.

“It’s Chuck,” the technician muttered.

John just smirked. He liked O’Neill’s humor, and god only knew, they were in dire need of some humor around this place.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 – Atlantis & Hawaii - conference room & Five-0 headquarters – around noon:**

“Did Wo Fat talk?” Danny Williams asked looking at the screen in their headquarters. They were having another live feed conference with Atlantis. _Atlantis_ … he still had a hard time wrapping his mind around that one. Sure, that aliens were real was tough, but there had been several freaky incidents over the past years that were all explained away by some rather shady sounding cover stories. He had believed them of course, but in hind-sight… A lot of things did make sense now. People standing on the roof of their buildings for no good reason, sightings of alien ships over London from people that did _not_ seem crazy, and he’d never forget the days his daughter Grace had stopped at the same time as all other children, pointing at the sky and reciting numbers. Plus, those planets he had seen in the sky himself the day those robot things were all over the news had so not been caused by hallucinations and terrorists! Still, Atlantis being real was something entirely different. It was a myth! Or it was supposed to be. Danny guessed that nothing really was impossible anymore.

“Not yet,” Colonel Samantha Carter answered. “We’re working on that. It’s not really why we’re having this video conference.”

“Then what is the reason?” Kono asked looking at the blonde who was sitting next to Steve on the screen. Had something else happened that they needed to deal with? They still had to find Delano after all. That was enough work for just her and Danny, since Chin was still at the hospital with Malia and Steve in Atlantis, sort of guarding Wo Fat.

“We’re offering you a job,” Sam stated.

“Seriously?” Kono asked, surprised.

“Seriously,” Steve said with a small smile.

“But what about Five-0? And what about Delano?” Kono asked.

“You would have to leave Five-0 of course, which the Governor assured me would be continued with suitable replacements,” Sam said. “But we are fully aware of your history with Frank Delano and what he did to you. You can work on catching him first, and we are even willing to assist you in any way we can.” Sam understood the need to close a case, especially if you were involved personally. She didn’t expect them to just leave and let Delano go free, if the local police didn’t find him. 

Wow, Kono thought. They really must think highly of them if they wanted them to work for them badly enough to even offer assistance while they were in the middle of their own crisis situation. She kind of liked the thought. The Stargate Program surely wanted only the best.

“Commander McGarrett has also informed me of your personal situation, Detective Williams,” Sam went on.

Danny looked at her, then Steve. “He did what?” What was Steve doing talking about his private life to strangers?

“I’m not sure if you are aware of it or not, but Atlantis is located not far from San Francisco, where your ex-wife wants to move,” Sam continued.

Now Danny looked at the screen rather dumb-founded. 

“Think about it, Danny, no messy trials or arguments with Rachel. And I’m sure Grace would prefer it that way, too,” Steve said.

“I know very well what would be best for my daughter,” Danny replied, still feeling a little annoyed that Steve blabbed about his personal life to this Colonel. Who else did he tell about Danny’s business? On the other hand, Steve was completely right. If he did move there would be no custody battle. He was sure Rachel would take the custody modification back if he told her he’d come to California with them. Plus the only reason he did want to stay were his team mates and friends. Steve looked like he already settled into Atlantis, and by the glint in Kono’s eyes he was sure she wanted the job. Hell, so did he. He had never been able to see himself as anything other than a cop, but he did the job to keep people safe. Now that he knew that the entire planet needed protection, how could he turn down a job that would allow him to do just that, protect the entire human race from a threat most people didn’t even know existed? 

Steve smiled. By the look on Danny’s face he knew that he had him. It was the perfect solution for his friend’s problem. And as for himself… well, he had missed the military. He could go back on active duty and do what he did best, protect his country, or in this case, the entire planet. The only thing keeping him in Hawaii now was his friends, and most of them could come to Atlantis as well.

“Chin and Malia are getting job offers, too,” he said. He had made sure of that. Chin would never come without Malia, and the Stargate Program did need new doctors anyway. Malia wouldn’t be able to work with children anymore, but she was an oncologist, and the Stargate program offered the chance to try and find cancer cures through extraterrestrial means. If Steve were in Malia’s shoes he’d jump at the opportunity. She could work as a regular doctor within the Stargate program as needed and do her own research in addition. He guessed it would be up to her now if she wanted the job. He had done his part in making sure she got the offer. Of course she first had to recover, but according to Chin things looked better already. She was out of surgery, which had gone well.

“Both of them?” Kono asked, her smile widening. Chin would never leave without Malia, so this was the perfect solution. Kono didn’t know if she would have gone without Chin, but now that he and Malia would get job offers, too, what was there to stop her from going? Her personal life was in shambles anyway. She had told Adam that they were done while locking him up. Leaving and starting a new life might be best and help her in moving on. She’d miss Hawaii, but Atlantis… she could live in the mythological city itself!

“Where do I have to sign?” she asked, causing a laugh from the others. She grinned sheepishly, but seriously, she better sign something before they took back the offer.

The printer started to work on its own again. 

“A job contract is being printed as we speak,” Sam said with a smile, glad that the negotiations were going so well. “Have a look at it and get back to me. As for catching Delano, I am going to send you two people to help with the investigation. I’m afraid we can’t spare more right now, but since Commander McGarrett is already here and your colleague, Lieutenant Kelly, is guarding his wife at the hospital I think you deserve at least some help.”

“Thank you,” Kono said, still grinning. 

“Yes, thank you,” Danny added. 

“You are very welcome. I am told our people are ready to…” Danny didn’t hear what else she said as a bright light suddenly appeared in the room and two people showed up out of nowhere.

“What the…” he muttered.

“Oh, didn’t you know…” Steve started with a big grin on his face. “We have beaming technology, too.”

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 – Atlantis - around noon:**

Sam was still smiling when she and Commander McGarrett left the conference room. The look on Detective William’s face when Lorne and Cadman beamed in had been priceless. She definitely already liked the Five-0 people and had a good feeling about them joining the Stargate Program. Jack had been right. Looking for new people to join them in places they didn’t usually recruit was a great idea. She was pretty sure Ba’al hadn’t bothered to plant a spy in Five-0. She doubted that he even knew who they were, regardless of their interaction with his human agent Wo Fat.

Sam hadn’t gotten far when Major Finn walked towards her. He had officially joined the Stargate Program this morning and would become a team leader. With his military record they were glad to have him, especially since they were in dire need of new team leaders.

“Colonel Carter, I’ve arranged for a meeting with Willow Rosenberg,” he said, bringing Sam to a stop.

“Right.” Sam nodded. Miss Rosenberg was the genius who hacked into Stargate Command and protected Robin Wood’s laptop. She was also a witch. Sam had been looking forward to meeting her. First they needed to make sure they could trust someone who was able to hack into their highly protected systems, and second Sam personally wanted to get to know whoever was capable of doing something like that. On top of that Sam had never met a real witch before. That the supernatural existed hadn’t come as a total shock. If you dealt with aliens on a daily basis you learned to expect the unexpected. Still, it was kind of new and also a little exciting.

“Commander McGarrett, I will see you later. I have to attend to this,” she said.

\----- -----

About ten minutes later they were in the control room. Sam had located Willow’s mobile, which she guessed was untraceable unless the witch wanted it not to be, and gave the coordinates to the Hammond who were ready to beam Miss Rosenberg in. Sure enough a moment later a beam of light in the gate room announced the new arrival.

“Willow,” Riley called hurrying down the steps into the gate room.

Hearing his voice Willow looked up, a smile appearing on her face. She really had missed Riley. It had been way too long since their last meeting.

“Riley,” she called hurrying towards him and pulling him into a hug. 

Letting go of him again Willow continued her previous examination of her surroundings. Wow, she really was in Atlantis! And the city looked impressive. Then her gaze fell on the Stargate. Wow! It could open a wormhole to other planets! She had to find out the details of how that worked. And she had been beamed here! She needed to find out how that worked, too. Of course she knew all about magical teleportation, but beaming through technology… well, she could guess how to do it, but still… the geek in her demanded to know the specifics.

“Welcome to Atlantis,” a voice said, forcing Willow to tear her eyes away from the Stargate. Turning around she met the gaze of a blond middle-aged woman with a knowing smile on her face. Willow guessed she knew exactly how impressive the city was and what Willow’s first instincts were.

“Colonel Carter, I presume,” she said. She had talked to the Colonel over the phone, so it was logical to assume that it was her.

“Miss Rosenberg, it is a pleasure to have you here.”

“It’s a pleasure to be here,” Willow stated grinning. At first she had been a little apprehensive when the Watchers Council suggested her to be the liaison between them and the Stargate Program, but once she found out the details she had been excited. It wasn’t that she didn’t have enough to do as a watcher of at least 20 slayers, a witch and an active fighter of the supernatural, but the opportunity to see Atlantis, the Stargate and maybe even alien planets was too good to pass up. She would just have to organize her time accordingly. 

“But please call me Willow.”

“Alright, Willow. And you can call me Sam.”

Willow grinned at her and nodded. Sounded good to her. The whole Colonel thing seemed a little intimidating anyway, not in a threatening way, but so formal and… _military_.

\----- -----

Faith was sitting in a conference room… again. They were still sorting through all of Robin’s files. There were so many. Faith had no idea how he got all this information, and how it couldn’t have been enough for him to bring down this Ba’al already. Maybe he didn’t have time to read it all yet either. He should have asked for help. He should have asked her for help. Their relationship had been going well again after all. They weren’t exactly together, but Faith had thought about giving it another shot. She thought he had, too. Well, maybe he had planned to tell her about all of this. They did have a date after all. He just hadn’t been alive to make it. 

Sighing Faith pushed away a stack of papers and grabbed her glass with her left hand. Her right arm was still bandaged up. She would have to go to the infirmary later, have them remove the bandages. She was sure her slayer healing abilities had already taken care of her injuries by now. She really hoped that they had. She was tired of the bandages, and tired of being treated like she needed help by everyone around her. Her guards had gone from guarding her to trying to take care of her. Well, at least she was no longer a prisoner, but a guest. Maybe she would even be allowed to walk around on her own, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to find out any time soon. Her guards seemed to have taken a liking to following her around. Not that she minded that part much, Faith thought taking a sip from her glass. Sergeant Stackhouse was kind of hot after all. She wasn’t so sure about Lieutenant Miller, but he was nice at least, and he did help with the files. She hated sorting through files. It was a job for watchers, not slayers.

The door opened and Faith was pulled out of her thoughts when Riley entered. Well, there was hotness... As much as she tried to tell herself that Riley Finn was off limits after what happened in the past between them she couldn’t help but notice each time she saw him how great he looked. That combined with the knowledge of how he was in bed seemed to make her whole skin tingle. She wanted him, badly, which was kind of ironic, since he was the only man in this huge city that she couldn’t have. He sure as hell wouldn’t want her, not after she had sex with him pretending to be someone else. And why would he want her anyway? Buffy was his type, not her.

Pushing away the thoughts about Riley Faith noticed Colonel Carter coming into the room after him, followed by…

“Willow!” she called getting up with a smile on her face.

“Faith!” Willow called hurrying into the room and hugging her.

“Umpf,” Faith muttered. She had never really gotten used to or comfortable with people hugging her, but Willow never seemed to care about that.

“Sorry,” Willow apologized quickly. “Are you alright, Faith?” she glanced at her friend a little worried. Her whole arm was bandaged up.

“It’s nothing,” Faith said with a shrug. “Slayer, remember? I’m gonna go to the infirmary later, have them get rid of it. I’m sure it’s all healed up now.”

“Are you sure? It looked rather bad when we beamed you out of Stargate Command,” Sam stated, remembering the state Faith had been in. She had been lucky though, in comparison to most other survivors. Only a few had less severe injuries, most were still in Atlantis infirmary… or dead. But Sam was determined not to think about that right now.

“So, that’s how I got out of there,” Faith said. She had wondered about that already. “Beaming technology, cool! And yeah, I’m sure. Slayers heal fast,” she added, trying to reassure Colonel Carter. The older woman seemed to have taken a liking to her ever since Faith started helping them. It was kind of nice and Faith didn’t want her to worry.

Riley watched the interaction of the women while sitting down. Both women really seemed to care about Faith. Colonel Carter could be fooled of course, since she hardly knew Faith, but Willow knew her for years, and she did know about Faith’s past as well, had been there when Faith turned evil. If he remembered right Faith had even threatened Willow’s life at least once. For her to care about Faith as much as she obviously did the slayer really must have changed. Of course Willow had assured him of that several time already, but being told and seeing Willow and Faith interact was a whole different story. Seeing it kind of made him feel better about his own… feelings towards Faith. Not that they were actual feelings. He did NOT have romantic feelings for _Faith_! But for some reason he cared about whether or not she really had changed. He wanted her to have changed. After Willow told him that Faith was fighting for the good side now Riley had thought about their encounter a few times. Faith had been so lost when they met. She was kind of like a scared little girl that needed help. He should have helped her, but at the time he thought she was Buffy, and when did Buffy ever really need him? She simply didn’t. He had actually felt kind of good when she seemed to need him that one night. Only it hadn’t been Buffy at all, and afterwards he had been too pissed at Faith for messing up his relationship with Buffy to realize what he had seen that night, that she was scared and needed help. Luckily she had managed to get better on her own. 

Riley was pulled out of his thoughts when the women sat down and Colonel Carter pulled a laptop towards her.

“There’s a file we haven’t been able to decrypt yet,” Sam said opening a folder and pushing the laptop to Willow. “I’ve got to say it, I’m really impressed by your computer skills,” she added with a grin at the redhead.

Willow beamed at Sam. She had read the Colonel’s file before coming here and knew that the woman was probably one of the most brilliant scientists on the entire planet, so getting praise from her was better than candy, and who didn’t love candy.

“Thanks,” she said blushing slightly and quickly turned to the laptop. “But I’m afraid this encryption isn’t mine.”

“Oh,” Sam said. “Well, you still did hack into the SGC, and we didn’t manage to get into the laptop in the first place,” Sam stated.

“If it wasn’t you, Willow, then who _did_ encrypt it?” Faith asked, interrupting the chorus of praise.

“I don’t know,” Willow admitted. “Maybe Robin got his hands on the file but never managed to open it himself.”

“You mean it could be one of Ba’al’s files that your friend got his hands on?” Sam asked, sounding excited. If that was true there might be an important lead in the file.

“Could be,” Willow agreed.

“Might be something important,” Faith said.

“Why don’t we find out?” Willow suggested as she grinned and started to get to work.

\----- -----

About an hour later Willow let out a shout of triumph.

“Finally,” Faith muttered, sat up straighter and peered at the laptop.

“Just one text file,” Sam said looking at the laptop from Willow’s other side.

Willow opened the file, then frowned. There were a bunch of symbols in it. She had no idea what they meant. Under it stood: ‘Bring me the Confessor’. Willow didn’t know what that meant either. Great, had all that work been for nothing?

“A gate address,” Sam stated excitedly.

Willow turned to her. “The symbols mean another planet?”

“Yes, the symbols are dialled and a wormhole to another planet established.”

“So, Ba’al wants something from that planet,” Riley said.

“The Confessor, I guess,” Willow added. “Any idea what that means?”

“No,” Sam said. “Ba’al isn’t the religious type, at least not unless he _is_ the god people are worshipping. Don’t know what he’d want with a confessor.”

“How about we find out?” Faith suggested.

“And how exactly are you planning to do that?” Riley wanted to know.

“Go to the planet of course,” Faith stated. “What else do we have that Stargate for?”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Sam said. “You’re not part of the Stargate Program and you’re injured.”

Faith scowled at her. “I’m perfectly fine, and as for the Stargate Program part, where do I sign up?” 

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 – Hawaii - Five-0 headquarters – afternoon:**

“You just had to shoot him, didn’t you?” Danny asked feeling exasperated as he looked at the redheaded marine. “What’s with soldiers all being so trigger-happy anyway?” he demanded to know. As if having Steve as a partner wasn’t bad enough. Couldn’t Colonel Carter have sent someone less ‘Steve-like’ to help them out? It would have been a nice change.

“He was going to shoot you,” Cadman stated for what felt like the hundredth time. Detective Williams had done nothing but complain and bitch the whole drive back from their failed attempt to get information from one of Delano’s associates. The man probably didn’t even know anything, and even if he did, should she have let him shoot Williams? Well, it would have shut him up… 

“You could have aimed at the leg,” Danny said. “Why is that so hard for you guys?”

“Us guys?” Cadman asked with a raised eyebrow while getting out of the car and heading towards Five-0 headquarters. “Just in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a _guy_.”

Danny glared at her. As if that wasn’t obvious, he thought. She was actually rather feminine and pretty… no, she was downright hot, which was why he had volunteered to pair up with her instead of Major Lorne. He had also thought, or better hoped, that she would be the more reasonable of the two, since she was a woman. He guessed he had been wrong about that. Not that he knew if Lorne was reasonable, but Cadman definitely wasn’t. She was just like Steve. Shoot first and ask questions later seemed to be something they taught in every branch of the military, while they neglected to mention that corpses couldn’t talk.

“The military,” Danny muttered. “I meant the military.”

Cadman smirked. She knew that of course, but irritating bitchy men was kind of fun. She had figured that out a long time ago, when she started working with Rodney McKay. Williams seemed to be just as fun to irritate as her favourite scientist. And on top of that he was actually rather hot. She liked the combination.

“How about next time you try shooting the criminal in the leg while he aims a gun at my head,” she suggested.

Danny frowned. “I had the situation under control.”

“If you call attempting to annoy the man to death having control of a situation then yes, you were in complete control.”

“That’s the whole point, I _didn’t_ want him dead.”

“Ah, looks like you’re getting along brilliantly,” Kono said walking up to them and dragging a cuffed man with her.

“You call that getting along?” Major Lorne asked snorting slightly.

“Sure, Danny getting all whiny and bitchy with you means he loves you,” Kono stated.

Danny snorted. “Excuse me?”

Kono just chuckled and dragged the cuffed man into the building.

\----- -----

“He isn’t talking,” Danny said about half an hour later, feeling frustrated. 

“Maybe he just doesn’t know anything,” Cadman suggested. “Delano knows you’re after him, he’d be stupid to tell someone you knew was associated with him where he’s hiding.”

Danny sighed. She was probably right. “I wish we had another subject to interrogate…”

Cadman groaned. “Not again…”

“Guys,” Kono called, interrupting them.

Danny turned to her, not liking the sound of her voice. “What is it, Kono?”

“I think I’ve got an e-mail from Delano, with a link to a video.”

Danny stepped next to her, looking at the screen, his eyes narrowing. What the hell was Delano up to now?

“Should we look at it?” she asked glancing at Danny. He thought for a moment, then nodded.

As soon as Kono clicked on the link a live feed video popped onto their screen.

“Finally, I thought I was going to have to wait all day,” Delano said, sounding slightly bored.

“What do you want?” Danny asked. A fugitive contacting them couldn’t be good.

“What do I want? Hm, world peace, no sickness… ah, wait, that’s more up your alley, isn’t it?” Delano answered with a grin. “But enough about that. Since you pretty much locked down the island and I can’t leave I got a little bored and decided to play a game…” he added and turned a computer screen into the camera. 

“Son of a bitch,” Danny shouted. “I’m gonna kill you!” The screen Delano had turned was divided into three parts. On the top left they saw Kamekona in his shrimp truck, under it the underside of the shrimp truck where a bomb was ticking down. On the right side Grace was bound to a chair, gagged, blindfolded and with a bomb strapped to her.

“Danny,” Kono muttered through gritted teeth, placing a hand on his arm. She felt just as pissed and scared as Danny – well, maybe not exactly _as_ pissed and scared as he did, since it was his daughter, but she did care about both Grace and Kamekona, too – but losing control wouldn’t help now. “What do you want?” she asked, looking at Delano.

“Me? Nothing. Just thought I’d tell you that you have 15 minutes to get to them…” he gestured at the screen. “Oh, and if you think about tracing this video-feed… well, you can do that of course, but I’d hurry if I were you. If you get to them in time… you could at least say your goodbyes.” The video feed went dead.

“I had McKay trace the video feed,” Lorne said as soon as the screen went blank. 

“Son of a bitch,” Danny screamed again. “I’m never gonna get to her in time!”

Cadman stepped to Danny, placing her hands on his arms and holding him still.

“Calm down. Freaking out isn’t going to help now. Where are they?”

“Grace is at home. At this time with traffic… I’ll never make it! I have to go…”

“Detective Williams,” Cadman started, but he ignored her, storming off. “Danny!” she shouted. “Tell us where they are and we’ll beam over!”

That stopped Danny in his tracks. Right, they had _beaming technology_! He quickly gave them the address. 

“Go,” Kono said. “We’ll take care of Kamekona.”

\------ ------

Danny and Cadman appeared next to Grace in almost no time. 

“Grace, honey, Daddy is here. Don’t worry, we’re going to fix this,” he said while Cadman had a closer look at the bomb. Grace squirmed slightly in the chair. “Don’t move,” Danny told her. He was about to get rid of the gag and blindfold, but Cadman held him back.

“Don’t touch anything,” she warned.

Danny sighed but nodded. “You got a bomb squad you can get here?” he asked silently, looking at Cadman.

“We don’t need one. I can do this,” Cadman stated and quickly relied to the Hammond what kind of tools she’d need.

“ _You_ can do this?” Danny asked.

“I’m a bomb specialist.”

“She’s a bomb specialist… of course she is,” Danny muttered. She probably liked blowing stuff up as much as Steve did.

“Got a problem with that?” Cadman asked just as the requested tools were beamed down to her.

Danny glanced at her. “Well… no.” Right now, he really couldn’t be happier about that. His daughter had a bomb strapped to her and his temporary partner was a bomb specialist. Maybe she was useful after all… They’d see about that… if they survived this.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Danny asked looking over Cadman’s shoulder.

“Stop crowding me… and talking,” Cadman told him firmly.

“Sorry,” Danny muttered stepping back a little.

“Okay, done,” Cadman stated a minute – that seemed like a lifetime to Danny - later.

“Really?” Danny asked as relief started to flood through him.

“Really,” Cadman confirmed while starting to free Grace from the disarmed bomb. This really hadn’t been hard, but she guessed that the hard part was getting to the bomb in time… well, hard for anyone but them. She was really glad that the Hammond was still in orbit. She would have hated for anything to happen to Grace, and Danny. She kind of liked him, especially after seeing how much he cared about his daughter.

Danny quickly removed the blindfold and gag. As soon as Grace was free Danny pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay monkey, everything’s fine now,” he told her while watching Cadman talk over her radio.

“They got Kamekona out of the truck and the area evacuated,” Cadman said. “But I gotta go, have a look at the bomb.”

Danny nodded, then grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Cadman said smiling and ruffled Grace’s hairs slightly before stepping back. “You’ve got a very brave daughter, Danny.” Then she disappeared in a ray of light.

“Where’d she go, Danno?” Grace asked looking around.

“To save the day one more time,” Danny answered looking at his daughter, a smile appearing on his face. “You okay?”

“I am now,” Grace said wrapping her arms around her father tightly.

\---------------------------------------

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	4. Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> Army Wives: Michael Holden, Roxy LeBlanc  
> LOTS: Cara Mason, Kahlan Amnell, Richard Cypher, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander  
> Stargateverse: Cameron Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Jack O'Neill, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Sam Carter, Teal'c, Teyla Emmagan, Vala Mal Doran

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my awesome beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this chapter! :-)

**Day 3 - Legend of the Seeker planet:**

“Kahlan,” Richard screamed while fighting off one of the strangely dressed men that had attacked them and dragged Kahlan off. Cara and Zedd were fighting next to him. Unfortunately there were a lot of the enemy and they had strange weapons with which they were shooting at them. It looked a bit like lightning when they hit a person. They had seen it when Kahlan was hit and fell to the ground unconscious. For a moment Richard had feared the worst when she collapsed, but since the strangers dragged her off he assumed she was still alive. What would they want with a dead body?

Deflecting one of the attacker’s shots with his sword Richard saw a huge ring come to life by magic out of the corner of his eyes. The ring had been empty before, then some kind of magic seemed to billow out of it. Now the inside of the ring was full of bluish light.

“By the gods, the legend is true,” Zedd exclaimed.

“What legend?” Richard demanded to know.

“The legend tells of a portal to other worlds. The wizards of old have long wondered if it is true, but none of us ever managed to get the portal to work.”

“Not even you?” Cara asked.

“Not even me,” Zedd confirmed.

Richard frowned, not liking that at all. If the strangers managed what Zedd couldn’t do they must possess powerful magic. 

“They are dragging Kahlan through the portal,” Cara called sounding frustrated.

“Then we’re going after them,” Richard decided. He would not abandon Kahlan, especially not now that they finally could be together.

“Run,” Cara called when the last of Kahlan’s kidnappers backed through the ring. They did, running as fast as they could and jumping the final distance, throwing themselves through the portal.

\----- -----

Once on the other side Richard barely had time to look around as more shots were fired their way. Then the portal within the ring disappeared behind them. Crap, he guessed they were stuck here until they managed to make their enemy tell them how to open a portal back home.

The three of them advanced on their enemy with Zedd magically blocking their shots and disarming them. Then Richard and Cara attacked with their sword and agiels. They managed to take down three enemies before more of them appeared. Richard cursed. How many of them were there? He had barely finished that thought when another portal appeared in the ring behind them. Great, with more people coming through the portal they’d be surrounded. However, as soon as people did come through their enemy started shooting at the newcomers, who returned fire. Richard wasn’t sure what kind of weapons they had, but they seemed effective, and since they seemed to be on their side… for now… Richard really didn’t care what they fought with.

\----- ----- 

“Take cover,” John called as soon as they and SG-1 were through the gate. The Stargate symbols from the file Willow Rosenberg decrypted had led them to this planet, and they had planned to search it with two teams, but apparently that was unnecessary. Ba’al’s people were right here and already shooting with Zat guns at them. They headed towards nearby rocks, but Rodney went down before they made it there. John cursed.

“Teyla, Ronon, get him,” he called while firing his p-90 at their attackers to give them cover. Mitchell joined him, quickly followed by the rest of SG-1. As soon as Teyla and Ronon had the unconscious Rodney behind a rock the others went for cover as well.

“Looks like Ba’al’s people are already in a fight,” Cam called.

John peered over the rock he was behind. Cam was right. A man was fighting with a sword and a woman with some kind of sticks. They probably weren’t from an advanced civilisation. Then John’s gaze fell on an old man who was…

“Did he just shoot fire from his hands?” he called disbelievingly.

“Unless he had a flame thrower tugged up his sleeve, yes, I believe he did,” Daniel answered.

“Well, magic is real, as we have recently been informed of,” Cam stated.

“You think he could be the Confessor Ba’al wants?” Ronon asked.

John glanced at his team mate. “Could be.” He wouldn’t put it past the Goa’uld to want a wizard, or whatever the hell the guy was.

“I don’t care if Ba’al wants him, but he’s not getting him!” Vala exclaimed. “Imagine him with a host like that…” she trailed off.

“Right,” John muttered. He really _didn’t_ want to imagine that. “Let’s round them up. Teyla, stay with Rodney.” That said he gave a few signals and they attacked.

\----- -----

When the newcomers really joined the fight their enemies started to drop pretty quickly, much to Richard’s delight. Their weapons were very effective, especially since they could use them from a distance.

“Leave some of them alive,” John called. “They might have useful information.”

“Fine,” Ronon grumbled setting his gun to stun and shooting one of Ba’al’s people with it.

Richard briefly held his arms up. “We’re not with them. They kidnapped our friend.” He called, hoping that these people wouldn’t attack them as well. 

John nodded at the sword-wielding man. It was kind of obvious that they weren’t with Ba’al’s men. Even their clothes were a dead giveaway. 

Richard nodded back, relieved, then looked around for Kahlan. She was on the ground a few feet away, still unconscious. He walked towards her, but before he managed to get to her one of their enemies reached her first, pulling her towards him and holding a knife to her throat.

“Stay away from me,” he called loudly. “I’m going to leave through the Chappa’ai unattacked, or she dies! Put your weapons down.”

“Easy,” John called, lifting up his hands slightly, as the man pressed the knife harder to the woman’s throat, drawing blood.

“Kahlan,” Richard muttered as her eyes flew open. The pain must have woken her up.

Kahlan’s eyes locked with Richard’s as she took in her surroundings. Someone was holding her and had a knife pressed to her throat. That was when she remembered the attack and being shot with some kind of painful magic. 

“Get back,” the man holding her screamed next to her ear, making Kahlan wince slightly. Having had enough she grabbed his arm and yanked it away hard, making him drop the knife. Then she drove her elbow into his stomach, spun around and knocked him out.

John stared at the scene in front of him. One second they were in the middle of a hostage situation, the next the hostage turned it all around. Damn, she was good, and definitely no damsel in distress. “Nice,” he muttered whistling slightly.

Kahlan turned around, a satisfied smile on her face. 

“Are you okay?” Richard asked rushing to Kahlan’s side and looking at the wound on her throat. Luckily it was just a scratch.

“I’m fine, Richard,” Kahlan assured him.

“Nice moves,” Vala stated with a grin, before adding. “So, which one of you is that _Confessor_?”

Daniel grimaced. Trust Vala not to waste any time, even with introductions.

“I am,” Kahlan stated. 

“Why do you want to know?” Richard asked suspiciously.

“We found out that an enemy of ours was after a Confessor. We didn’t know any specifics, just this location,” Cam explained. “So we decided to come here, see if we could find out more.”

“Guess we arrived just in time,” John added.

“Yes, you did. Thank you for your help,” Zedd said, then decided that it was time for introductions. “I am Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander, wizard of the First Order, and these are Cara Mason, Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor and Richard Cypher, the Seeker.” 

“Nice to meet you, I am Colonel John Sheppard and these are my friends Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Teal’c, Vala Mal Doran and Ronon Dex” John said gesturing at each of them in turn. “Oh, and Teyla Emmagan and Rodney McKay are back there.” He pointed towards the Stargate. 

“Seeker?” Vala mused. “Seeker of what? And what does Confessor mean?” 

“You have never heard of the Seeker? Or of Confessors?” Kahlan asked surprised.

“We’re in another world, Kahlan,” Richard informed her.

Kahlan turned to him, surprise and shock written all over her face. “We are what?”

“They took you through a portal in the ancient ring,” Zedd explained. He was sure Kahlan as a confessor knew about the ring and its legend.

“We followed before the portal closed,” Cara added.

“Wormhole,” Daniel stated.

“What?” Richard asked.

“It’s not a portal, it’s a wormhole. And the ring…,” Daniel said, gesturing at the gate. “…is called a Stargate or Chappa’ai, in their language.” He gestured at the people on the ground, who were either dead or unconscious. 

“You know a lot about this Stargate,” Richard observed. “And you came through it. That means you know how to make it work,” he stated, but it was more of a hopeful question.

“Yes, we do,” Daniel answered.

“Then you can help us get home,” Cara said.

“Er,” John muttered. “Do you have a gate address?”

“Symbols that tell us where to send you,” Daniel clarified seeing their blank looks.

“No,” Zedd stated.

“Does that mean we can’t go home?” Kahlan wanted to know, feeling uneasy.

“Not right now. The Stargate leads to a lot of different worlds. Without an address we don’t know where to send you,” Daniel explained. “I’m sorry.”

“McKay can check the DHD, see which addresses were dialled last, but as far as I understand it that takes time and it still leaves us with a few dozen choices,” John added. “I’ll make sure he does it though.” Who knew, maybe they’d even find something concerning Ba’al on one of those planets. 

“Thank you,” Zedd said. 

“And we can ask them, once they wake up,” Ronon added gesturing at Ba’al’s people and starting to check which ones were alive.

“In the meantime, how about we don’t stay here,” Cam suggested. “There might be more of Ba’al’s people around.”

“Good idea,” John agreed. “You could come with us to our pl… world,” he suggested, looking at the four strangers. Ba’al was after the Confessor, so they better kept her safe until they figured out why exactly he wanted her.

Richard looked at Kahlan, Zedd and Cara. Trusting these people might be a risk, but they had helped them defeat the people who kidnapped Kahlan, and they were offering to help them find a way home, which they might never find on their own. Besides, what else could they do? Staying in this world, where Kahlan’s attackers had taken them and could find them again at any time? No, they definitely couldn’t stay here. It was too big a risk. He saw Kahlan nodding at him, guessing his thoughts, so he turned back to the others.

“We accept your offer.”

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 – the Hump Bar, near Fort Marshall – late afternoon:**

Roxy LeBlanc looked up when she heard someone sitting down at the bar. Finally another guest, she thought. Since Fort Marshall was closing soon a lot of soldiers had already left and the Hump Bar was feeling it. Roxy was pretty bored most of the time, with nothing to do but clean her already spotless bar… and miss her best friend Pamela, who had already moved to California with her family. She quickly pushed that thought away. It was too depressing.

Looking at the grey-haired man sitting at the bar Roxy was a little surprised. She had never seen him before. They hadn’t had a lot of new faces around here recently because Fort Marshall was closing. She also noticed that he looked tired.

“Long day?” she asked.

Lt. General Jack O’Neill snorted slightly, but not in a happy way. “More like long days,” he answered.

The look on his face didn’t let Roxy doubt it. She had seen a lot of soldiers wear it. It was the look that she had learned to associate with ‘I have seen too much in my life and it is weighing me down’.

“How about a drink and some Gambo?” she suggested. “Might do you some good.”

Jack looked at her, thinking. When had he last eaten? This morning? Yeah, he was pretty sure Sam dragged him to Atlantis’ mess hall this morning. Someone even offered him froot loops. As if he’d ever eat those again!

“Just between you and me… would you eat it if you were me? It is food, right?” he asked. He was kind of hungry, but Gambo? It sounded weird.

Roxy chuckled. His face reminded her of her sons TJ and Finn, when she told them to eat food they had never tried before and were not sure they ever wanted to.

“Definitely,” she assured him. “It’s our special. _Everyone_ loves it.”

Jack wrinkled his nose, making her laugh slightly. Then she turned around and called to the kitchen for some Gambo.

“If you don’t like it you don’t have to pay for it,” she assured him.

“What makes you so sure I even want to like it now?” he asked with a mischievous smile.

Roxy grinned. She liked his humor, and it made him look years younger. 

“You should do that more often. It suits you,” she stated.

“Do what?” Jack asked.

“Smile,” she answered.

Jack chuckled. Yeah, it had been a good idea to come to this place while he waited for General Holden to get back from Washington. Apparently a surprise visit to Ford Marshall hadn’t been his best idea, but he was trying to stay under the radar. If no one knew what he was up to Ba’al couldn’t find out and use it to his advantage. Yes, he was probably paranoid, but better paranoid than played by a Goa’uld. And besides, having to wait for General Holden didn’t turn out to be so bad after all. Someone at Ford Marshall had suggested the Hump Bar, and Jack thought he now knew why. If the food was half as good as the bartender he was sure it was edible.

“So, what are you drinking?” 

“Just some coffee.”

“You sure? It’s pretty late already,” Roxy stated glancing at the clock. A lot of people had trouble sleeping if they drank coffee at this hour.

Jack snorted. “Trust me, my day is far from over,” he stated. Besides, if something kept him awake at night it definitely wasn’t coffee.

“I know I don’t even know you, but I’m pretty sure you work too much,” she stated while placing the coffee next to him.

“Can’t argue with that,” he agreed. “But it comes with the territory, if you have two jobs.”

“I tried that once. It was exhausting,” Roxy stated. _Especially while being a single mother_ , she added in thoughts. Luckily she had found Trevor and he turned her life around.

“Tell me about it,” Jack muttered.

“Maybe you should get rid of one of the jobs,” she suggested. He didn’t look like he did it because he needed the money. Besides, he was a soldier. If they had two jobs, it had to be something important, right? Especially with him being a… she looked at his uniform to check for a rank and noticed that it looked a little… off. 

“Can’t,” he simply stated, not elaborating. _‘I have major trust issues right now because an evil alien blew up our secret military base’_ would probably sound a little crazy. 

“Hm, how about delegating?” she asked. “There has to be someone you can tell to do your least favourite duties, right? I mean, you’re a…” she glanced at his uniform again, but for some reason couldn’t find the rank where it was supposed to be.

Jack grinned, yes, he should definitely let someone else do some of his least favourite tasks, like meeting with the IOA or sitting in conference rooms all day.

“General,” he said, finishing her sentence. “Lieutenant General Jack O’Neill, United States Air Force.”

 _Oh, that’s why the uniform looked a little different_ , Roxy thought. She probably should have seen that, but it was the first time she had seen someone from the Air Force up close.

“What’s an Air Force General doing here, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Just a little recruiting,” Jack stated.

“Seriously?” Roxy wanted to know. “At Ford Marshall? I thought the different military branches didn’t get along.” Had she misunderstood something… again?

“In my line of work we don’t really care about that,” Jack stated. Yes, there was a lot of rivalry among the different military branches, but who cared about that on another planet? He certainly didn’t. It was about having the best person for the job, regardless of their military background, or even lack thereof. 

“And what line of work would that be?” Roxy asked curiously.

“I’m afraid that’s classified.”

Somehow Roxy wasn’t surprised about that answer at all. He gave off that ‘mysterious vibe’.

“Now you made me curious,” she said with a grin.

Jack chuckled.

“Roxy, the Gambo,” a voice from the kitchen called.

“Ah, right,” Roxy muttered rushing off. Once she got back she put the Gambo down in front of Jack.

“So, it’s _Roxy_?” Jack asked, but it was more of a statement.

“Oh, sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself, have I?” she muttered and held her hand out. “Roxy LeBlanc.”

Jack shook her hand before eyeing the Gambo.

“It’s not going to bite you,” Roxy said chuckling.

“You sure about that?” he asked mischievously. There seemed to be some fish swimming in that Gambo…

“So, LeBlanc…” he started before trying the Gambo. Hm, he had definitely eaten worse. “…I think I offered your husband a job today.”

“Seriously?” she asked again. “I mean… you did? And it’s _classified_?” 

Jack smirked. “Yes, seriously.” Lieutenant LeBlanc’s record was outstanding, and Jack had liked what he saw while observing the man’s training today. So he had invited him and several other soldiers for tests the next day. “There are going to be some tests tomorrow, but if he’s as good as his record claims we’re happy to have him.”

“But you’re not going to tell me what kind of job it is?”

“No.”

“Not even a tiny hint?”

Seeing her ‘puppy-dog look’ Jack chuckled, but shook his head firmly.

“Not even where the job would be?”

 _Well, telling her that couldn’t hurt, could it?_ “California,” he finally answered, leaving it vague.

“Really?” Roxy asked beaming. 

“I take it that’s good?”

“Perfect! My best friend just moved to California. Her husband left the Army. He was a member of the Delta Force, but all the secrets were hard for his family, so he finally decided to give the private sector a try… in California.”

“And you’d love to be able to see her more often again.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, tell your husband to give his best tomorrow.”

“Oh, you can count on that!”

Jack grinned, liking her enthusiasm. “I hope he does well,” he said. “Maybe you could open your own bar…”

“I already did. I own this place,” Roxy stated proudly. Well, she still did for a few days. “But with Fort Marshall closing I had to sell it. It’s actually my last week here.” She sounded a little wistful. She’d miss the Hump Bar!

“I tell you what… if your husband gets the job, I’m gonna let you open a place like this in our base of operations,” he promised. 

“Really? You’re not kidding?”

“No, I’m not,” Jack assured her. He really liked this place and Roxy. For the first time in days he felt like he could relax a little. And the city was big enough. He had even seen an abandoned part of the city with shops and restaurants when he first came to Atlantis and got lost. Maybe it was time to reopen at least one of those ancient places again. “Atlantis really could use a place where people can go to relax after their shifts are over,” he mused.

“You named you secret base _Atlantis_?” Roxy asked in a conspiratorial tone of voice, leaning in close.

Jack stared at her a little shocked, then groaned. “I said that last part out loud, didn’t I?”

“Sure did,” she stated smirking. “But your secret’s safe with me, I promise.”

“It better is or I’m going to have to arrest you,” he said jokingly. Truthfully though, _he_ was actually the one he would have to arrest in that case.

“I really must be overworked,” he muttered. Otherwise he never would have slipped up like that. Or maybe it was the loss of so many friends and co-workers.

“I told you, you need to delegate,” Roxy stated firmly.

“I think you’re right. Know any trustworthy Generals I could hire?”

Roxy looked at him, then grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do. I don’t think General Holden has gotten his new orders yet. And he’s a great General, cares about all the people under his command, not just the higher ranked soldiers, and he’s a pretty nice guy, too. I’m sure you’d like him.”

Jack smiled. He had hoped she’d say that. He had briefly met General Holden years ago, before he even joined the Stargate program. Holden and his unit had saved his life after his plane went down. When Jack heard that Fort Marshall was closing and that Major General Michael Holden was currently in charge of it he had decided to come and check it out to do some recruiting. He had been thinking about offering Holden a job as well. Jack wasn’t willing to give either of his jobs up right now, but he was willing to share the responsibility and work. Since he was a Lieutenant General himself he outranked Holden, which meant he could let Holden help him out and still have the final say in every area he deemed necessary, especially since Holden had no experience in extraterrestrial matters. Once he got to know Holden better and trusted him enough he could rethink splitting the two jobs up again. Hearing Roxy praise Holden confirmed Jack’s decision. Most people probably wouldn’t value the opinion of a bar owner, but that was exactly why he valued it. She had nothing to gain by recommending a General. Plus, a Lieutenant’s wife talking like that about a General must mean that he really made an impression. Generals and the wives of Lieutenants didn’t necessarily mix. A lot of them were a little ‘elitist’, which was something Jack didn’t like. His soldiers all risked their lives on an almost daily basis and deserved to be treated with equal respect.

Before Jack had a chance to reply the chair next to him started to move.

“General O’Neill,” General Michael Holden said. “I am sorry you had to wait. When I came back from Washington and heard you decided to go to the Hump Bar I came over as quickly as I could.”

“General Holden,” Jack said, shaking the man’s hand. “It’s no problem that I had to wait. I came unannounced. And besides, Roxy has been keeping me company.”

Michael turned to Roxy with a smile. “I’m sure she did,” he said. “Hello, Roxy, nice to see you again. Oh, and Claudia Joy told me that she will come by the bar later with Denise.”

“General Holden,” Roxy said in greeting and smiled at the news. “Can’t wait. I’m dying of boredom around here. Well, unless mysterious Air Force Generals show up to entertain me.” She chuckled. “What can I get you General Holden?”

\----- -----

Having left the two Generals to talk among themselves Roxy turned on the TV in the corner of the bar. It was a goodbye present from Pamela, since she would no longer be able to entertain Roxy when the bar was almost empty. Or maybe Pamela just hadn’t been able to fit it in the moving truck anymore and wanted a new one anyway.

Zapping around she came to a news report. It looked like there had been a public shooting.

“Roxy, can you turn the volume up?” Jack called.

“Sure,” she answered and complied.

Jack stared at the TV, where a news reporter talked about a shooting in LA, or better an execution. The whole thing had been filmed. Jack’s eyes fixed on the ‘victim’. The man looked awfully familiar.

“I’m sorry, General Holden, I need to make a call,” he stated getting up and pulling out his mobile. 

“Sam, turn on the TV,” he started once she picked up, then told her the channel. He knew when she was watching it by the sound of her sucking in a breath. 

_“It’s the man in the picture_ ,” Sam muttered. _“The one in Robin Wood’s files_.”

“That’s what I thought,” Jack stated. They hadn’t been able to identify him yet. Maybe they just caught a break. “Find out what that shooting was all about and who the shooter is, then call me back.”

\---------------------------------------

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	5. Recruiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> Army Wives: Finn LeBlanc, Roxy LeBlanc, TJ LeBlanc, Trevor LeBlanc  
> BTVS: Riley Finn  
> Hawaii Five-0: Danny Williams, Kono Kalakaua, Lori Westen, Steve McGarrett  
> NCIS LA: Eric Beale, , Henrietta 'Hetty' Lange, Kensi Blye, Marty Deeks, Nell Jones, Sam Hanna  
> Stargateverse: Jack O'Neill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my awesome beta landiana24 @ lj for betaing this chapter! :-)

**Day 3 – Fort Marshall – evening:**

“Finn, TJ, stop that,” Roxy called. “Put the ball away and go wash up.” She sighed in relief when her sons complied without protest. Getting back to the salad she was preparing she noticed the front door opening. A smile appeared on her face as Trevor came in.

“Well hello there, soldier,” she said with a grin.

Trevor looked at her with a smile, glad to see his wife in such a good mood. She had been sad and moody since Pamela moved away and their own upcoming move wasn’t helping either.

“Hello yourself,” he said stepping behind her and wrapping his arms around her. “I’ve got good news,” he declared before kissing her neck.

Roxy grinned. “I’m pretty sure I already know,” she stated while leaning into him.

“Do you now?” he asked wondering if she really could have any idea what he was going to say.

“As a matter of fact I do. A certain Air Force General came into the Hump Bar today and told me he offered you a job,” she said glancing up at him.

“Seriously?” Trevor asked surprised while going to get himself something to drink. “What did he tell you?”

“That he offered you a job in his highly classified organisation.” She turned around to face him. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I don’t have the job yet,” he clarified, but felt glad that Roxy seemed to be as thrilled about this as he was. Roxy wasn’t always happy with him being a soldier. He had feared that she might decide classified equalled too dangerous. Luckily that didn’t seem to be the case. “There will be tests tomorrow and they only take the best.”

“Exactly, which means they will be thrilled to have you,” she said.

Trevor snorted. “General O’Neill seems to have made quite the impression,” he observed before drinking some orange juice and taking the rest over to the table.

“He promised I could open a bar in A…,” she stopped herself just in time. “Wherever their secret base is.”

“He told you where it is?” he asked looking at his wife in disbelief. How could she know more about this than he did? All he was told was to be ready tomorrow morning at 1100 to fly out.

“Well, not really. Just somewhere in California,” she declared happily while placing the salad on the table.

“Ah, that’s why you’re so chipper all of a sudden,” he declared, getting her good mood now.

“All of a sudden? Are you trying to tell me that I…”

“Of course not,” Trevor quickly stated and silenced her with a kiss. “I’m just happy that you are as excited about this as I am.”

“Excited about what?” Finn asked rushing back into the room followed by TJ.

“Your dad got a job offer,” Roxy said. An onslaught of questions from the two boys started immediately.

“Slow down,” Trevor said while getting the plates and shooting Roxy a look. He hadn’t wanted to tell the boys before he knew for sure he had the job, but he guessed it was too late now.

Roxy smirked. “I guess now you have to make sure to get the job,” she said silently, knowing full well that he’d hate to tell the boys about a job they surely would think sounded exciting and having to disappoint them afterwards.

Trevor laughed slightly. As if he didn’t anyway. A classified job that was a joint operation between the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps… he was dying to find out what that was all about.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 3 – LA - NCIS headquarters – late evening:**

“Pretty sneaky, clearing out your desk in the middle of the night,” a voice said, making Henrietta Lange turn around in surprise. She had thought NCIS headquarters was empty, which would allow her to get all of her things out unobserved. Apart from that she didn’t recognize the voice. Looking up at the man she narrowed her eyes.

“Jack O’Neill,” she said after a moment. She hadn’t seen the man in a while, which was why it had taken her some time to recognize him. Glancing more closely at his uniform she added: “Lieutenant General… I believe the last time we met you were a Colonel.”

Jack smiled slightly. “I believe you are correct.” It had been a while.

“A lot of people were convinced you’d never make it past that. I am glad to see you proved them wrong,” she stated.

Jack grinned. She was right, and it had been a pleasure to stick it to those who didn’t believe in him or openly opposed him. But that wasn’t important right now.

“Looks like you’re leaving, Hetty.”

Hetty sighed, looking down. Yes, she was leaving, for good this time. She had handed in her resignation after Callen had been arrested for shooting the Chameleon earlier today. And this time she would not be coming back. She had lost too many good people. Callen was the last straw. He might not be dead, but he was gone none the less. She sighed again, not even wanting to imagine him in prison.

“I am, but that isn’t why you‘re here, is it, Jack?”

“Not really, no,” he agreed. “But it might make things easier.”

Hetty looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t she sighed and steepled her hands. “Get on with it, Jack. It’s late and I am tired.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. She really did look tired, not at all like the strong woman he knew. 

“That wouldn’t happen to have something to do with your agent and the man he killed, would it?”

Hetty frowned. He had to bring that up, didn’t he? “Don’t tell me that’s why you’re here?”

“As a matter of fact it is,” he stated.

That caught her interest. What interest could he possibly have in what happened with Callen? The last she heard about Jack O’Neill was that he was leading some secret branch of the military. 

“You seem to have information I need, Hetty. So I thought I’d come by, ask for help, offer you a job and get your agent out of prison…” he trailed off looking at her mischievously. When Sam called him back and told him that the shooting that was all over the news involved an NCIS agent, and that Henrietta Lange was his supervisor, Jack had started thinking. Since he had to talk to her about the man that had some kind of connection to Ba’al anyway, why not offer her to join the Stargate Program as well? He knew how capable she was, had met her on several highly classified missions in the past, and he had decided to recruit in unusual places. In addition to that the thought of letting the IOA deal with Hetty brought a big fat smile to his face. He was sure she’d get the buggers off his back far longer than he’d ever manage himself.

Hetty’s head snapped up and she stared at him. There weren’t a lot of people that managed to surprise her, but Jack O’Neill just did.

“The information you need seems to be worth a lot,” she said as hope rushed through her. Callen’s situation was pretty hopeless. Not even with all her contacts had she managed to come up with a possible way to get him out of his mess. Could Jack really do it?

“It is. You probably heard about the Stargate Program? I happen to find myself in charge of it once more, in addition to Homeworld Command,” he said watching her closely to see her reaction.

“I heard of both, but don’t know any details,” Hetty answered looking at him. He seemed almost surprised at her answer. “Contrary to some people’s beliefs I _don’t_ know everything,” she stated. “The rumours I did hear made me decide I was better off not knowing.”

Jack laughed at that. Yeah, he guessed that was not the worst decision someone like Hetty could make. Like him, she was the kind of person that liked to get involved and solve a problem if she knew there was one. For her knowing about an alien threat would mean that she had to try and help fight it off. If she was content with her life as it was, it was definitely smart not to start digging deeper. But since the life she had been leading seemed to be over anyway Jack had no reservations about turning her world upside down.

“How about you make us one of your famous teas, sign my non-disclosure agreement and I will tell you how we can help each other out,” he suggested. It wasn’t like he cared about tea, but a meeting with Hetty without being forced to drink one of her teas somehow seemed wrong.

A small smile appeared on Hetty’s face. “If you insist,” she stated. “But I am warning you, if I make you tea I expect you to drink it.”

“I was afraid of that,” Jack stated chuckling. “But I am sure I will find a plant around this place that needs watering should the tea taste like the last one you offered me.” Seeing her scowl Jack smiled. The Hetty he knew and liked still seemed to be in there, and he’d make sure she came back out permanently. They’d need her.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – LA - NCIS headquarters – morning:**

Kensi Blye walked into NCIS headquarters feeling utterly miserable, then she almost ran into Sam Hanna, who scowled at her. Great, as if it was her fault that his partner went and shot someone in front of a news crew. Sure, the bastard deserved it, but shooting him like that… as much as Kensi understood the impulse she wished Callen hadn’t done it. Yes, letting the Chameleon go and win this time would have sucked, especially after all the people he killed, but they could have caught him later. She was sure that somehow they would have caught him. Now… what did they have now? A body and a co-worker - and friend - behind bars. On top of that she had already heard rumors that Hetty had resigned. Of course Hetty tried to resign a number of times already, but Kensi was afraid that she really did mean it this time. The murders of Agents Renko and Hunter really had taken its toll on her, and if that hadn’t been enough Callen did the rest.

Walking towards her desk Kensi noticed Eric Beale and Nell Jones carrying boxes past her. 

“Morning,” Nell said cheerfully.

Kensi narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?” she asked. Under the current circumstances Nell’s mood seemed odd. And were those her personal belongings in her box? Nell couldn’t be leaving, too, could she?

“Morning,” Marty Deeks muttered from behind her. Kensi turned around and looked at her partner. He looked tired and grumpy. At least that did make sense, she thought as he sat down at his desk and peered at a stack of papers.

“Non-disclosure agreements?” Deeks asked raising an eyebrow. Seeing Kensi’s expression he pointed at the stack of papers on her desk, assuming they were the same.

“What?” Kensi asked walking over to her desk, which sure enough did have a non-disclosure agreement on it as well.

“What’s this?” Sam asked grumbling while sitting down at his own desk.

“I thought you were able to read Mr. Hanna,” Hetty said appearing next to their desks.

“Hetty!” Kensi called, feeling immensely relieved to see that their boss was still there. “I was afraid you had resigned.”

“And sneaked off silently in the middle of the night,” Sam added.

“I thought you knew me better than that,” Hetty stated, not admitting that she had been about to do just that.

Deeks snorted, but quickly tried to mask it as a cough. “Think I caught a cold…” he muttered.

Kensi rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to Hetty. “So, what’s this?” she asked gesturing at the agreement on her desk.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything before you signed it, Miss Blye,” Hetty stated.

Kensi stared at her. It kind of looked like Hetty’s eyes were sparkling with excitement. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it, especially in their current situation.

“I’d sign the agreement as quickly as I could, if I were you,” Eric said coming up behind Hetty. “You won’t believe…”

“Mr. Beale, weren’t you packing your belongings?” Hetty asked, interrupting him.

“Already done,” Eric stated, but seemed to change his mind at the look Hetty gave him. “Right, packing… I’ll be upstairs.” That said he rushed off, joining Nell and starting to whisper and gesture around excitedly.

Kensi tore her eyes away from them and glanced down at the non-disclosure agreement. She guessed if she wanted to find out what the hell was going on she had to sign this.

“Right…” Hetty said glancing from Eric and Nell back to the other three. “Read it, sign it and pack. We’re leaving in 45 minutes. I expect you to be ready.”

“Where are we going?” Sam muttered, really not in the mood for all of this strange behaviour. It looked like Hetty, Eric and Nell had all gone crazy. Callen hadn’t been arrested 24 hours ago and they were all smiles.

“To your new job of course, Mr. Hanna,” Hetty stated matter of factly, as if it was crazy to think anything else.

“Our new what?” Deeks asked.

“New job,” Hetty repeated. “I’m afraid you are finally going to have to leave the LAPD, Mr. Deeks. Of course you have to pass some tests first… all of you,” she went on. “But I am sure you will pass with flying colors. I spoke in the highest tones of you to get you all this opportunity, so I expect you to do me proud.”

Kensi stared at Hetty, for a moment wondering if she was still at home in her bed having a very weird dream.

“You want us to try out for a new job?” Sam asked disbelievingly. “What about the job we already have? What about NCIS? What about Callen?” They had to try and figure out how to get G. out of his mess, didn’t they?

“I’m afraid NCIS will have to go on without us, and I am sure Director Vance will find replacements in due course. There is something much more important in store for each of us,” Hetty replied. “As for Mr. Callen. You will see him in… Ah, I can’t tell you that before you signed those agreements. So, hurry up and get on with it. We are on a tight schedule.”

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – late morning:**

“Commander McGarrett,” Riley called hurrying down one of Atlantis corridors.

“Henrietta Lange and the new recruits from NCIS are arriving in 15 minutes. I was informed that you would like to welcome them personally,” he stated.

Steve smiled. “Yes, I would,” he answered. He had regretted to have missed the chance to see Sam Hanna when he came to Hawaii. He was looking forward to finally see him again now. And he definitely wasn’t going to miss the look on the man’s face when he saw Atlantis for the first time.

“So, enjoying being in charge of the whole city?” Steve asked falling into step next to Riley.

Riley snorted slightly. “Fells like I’ve been here for all of five minutes. I get lost in this city at least 5 times a day, and they put me in charge…” he trailed off. He understood why of course. The funeral of the Stargate Command personnel that died in the bombing was today and everyone who knew the deceased wanted to go of course. That they trusted him enough to leave him in charge in their absence actually was encouraging, but he did feel a little overwhelmed. A lot of people had asked him questions over the past hour that he couldn’t answer simply because he had no idea what they were talking about. But at least he had finished all tasks General O’Neill entrusted him with. The tests for the new recruits were set up, their transfer organised and he made sure that the Hammond started preparing to leave as soon as the funeral was over. The ship would fly to a planet that mysteriously couldn’t be dialled by Stargate. McKay had found its address among others on the planet Ba’al had the Confessor kidnapped to. Since that planet had been dialled from the planet Ba’al’s people had been on, it obviously could be reached not too long ago. That it was unreachable now was suspicious, which was why the Hammond would go check it out. 

“I know what you mean,” Steve stated. The city was huge and a bit like a maze. He had managed to get lost a few times already, too. Luckily there were transporters all over the city that could take him back to a place he knew, like the gate room. “But at least there were no emergencies…” 

“Oh man, now you jinxed us,” Danny called, joining them. “How often have I told you not to do that?!”

Steve chuckled, glad to see that his friend had arrived.

“Major Riley Finn, Detective Danny Williams,” he said, introducing the two men and ignoring Danny’s comment.

Riley shook the Detective’s hand, then excused himself. “I need to go welcome the recruits from Fort Marshall. I will see you later.”

“Sure,” Danny said and watched the man leave. Then he looked around. “Atlantis… It’s still hard to believe,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. He had been on so many classified missions already, but never would have guessed what he missed. But he was here now.

“How’s Grace?” he asked, focusing back on Danny.

“Fine, I think. It’s amazing how resilient she is,” Danny stated. “Rachel on the other hand had a bit of a fit. Told me she was glad they’d be moving, and that Grace would be safer with me far away.” He sighed, but couldn’t really blame his ex-wife. Grace had been abducted twice now because of him.

Steve sucked in a breath. “She’s wrong,” he declared. 

“I know, Danny said. It’s what I told her, said that Grace was still my daughter no matter where she was. I mean, it’s not like people like Delano couldn’t find her somewhere else if they really wanted to.”

Steve nodded. Unfortunately Danny was right about that. “How did Rachel take that?”

“Not good, but when I reminded her that if I hadn’t been nearby things would have been a lot worse, she finally shut up,” Danny stated. He hated that he had to bring that up to Rachel, hated even thinking about it, but he had to make sure Rachel wouldn’t try to take Grace from him. “Then I mentioned that I’m moving to San Francisco, too, and I think she was okay with it.”

“Good,” Steve said. He really didn’t want Danny to get into any more trouble with Rachel. 

“So, where’s Kono?” he asked while leading Danny towards a transporter that would get them to the east peer where Sam and the rest of NCIS would arrive.

“The infirmary, getting her routine check up. I already finished mine,” Danny said holding his arm out and pointing at a band-aid on his inner elbow. “They poked and prodded me big time. I hope this is all going to be worth it.”

Steve grinned. “You’re not going to start whining again, are you?”

“I don’t _whine_ ,” Danny protested.

“Sure you do,” Steve simply said. 

“No I don’t,” Danny insisted, then added: “So, where are we going?” to try and change the subject.

“To welcome Sam and his colleagues from NCIS.”

“You mean Sam Hanna and his team? They joined the Stargate Program, too?” Danny asked pleasantly surprised. He had enjoyed working with them.

Steve grinned. “I was surprised myself when I found out this morning, but I’m definitely not complaining.”

“Me neither,” Danny stated.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – east pier – late morning:**

Kono stepped out onto the east pier, a grin appearing on her face as she saw Danny and Steve bickering. She had no idea about what this time, but who cared? It was a familiar sight, which she was grateful for. Atlantis was a little intimidating, in addition to amazing and exciting. It was all a bit overwhelming, but seeing Steve and Danny like that made her feel right at home.

“Looks like you survived the poking and prodding,” Danny called when he noticed Kono.

“Of course she did,” Steve stated. “She’s not a delicate little flower like you.”

Kono snorted, then gave Steve a brief hug.

“So, what are we doing out here?” she asked. Danny had only told her to come to the east pier over the radio.

“Waiting for them,” Danny answered gesturing towards the ocean.

Shielding her eyes against the sun Kono glanced out at the water and saw a boat coming closer. Before she had a chance to ask who was on it she heard a voice from behind her.

“Detective Williams, Officer Kalakaua.”

Kono turned around and blinked, surprised. “Agent Callen?!” A grin appeared on her face. She had liked working with him and Agent Hanna when they were in Hawaii, and he definitely was good looking. Not that she was interested in him in that way of course. For the moment she had had enough of men. The whole mess with Adam was still too fresh. But something, or better someone, to look at was always a good thing, wasn’t it?

Special Agent G. Callen smiled, then shook Danny’s outstretched hand.

“Good to see you again, Callen,” Danny said before introducing Steve.

“McGarrett, good to finally meet you,” Callen said. “I believe you owe my partner a steak dinner.”

Steve chuckled. “I can’t believe _that’s_ what he’s telling people about me.”

Callen grinned, then turned to Kono. She was smiling at him, her hair streaming out behind her in the wind. She was quite the vision. Of course he already knew that, since they had met only a few weeks ago, but somehow he had forgotten just how beautiful she was.

“You’re working here, too?” Kono asked shaking his hand.

“As long as we don’t fail the upcoming tests miserably, yes,” he answered. He still could hardly believe it. About 12 hours ago he had been sitting in a tiny prison cell, wondering if his life could get any worse. Then out of the blue an Air Force General showed up with Hetty in tail. Without much fuzz they had him sign a non-disclosure agreement and whisked him away in the middle of the night, or better _beamed_ him away, right into _Atlantis_. Apparently shooting an unarmed man in front of a news camera didn’t necessarily condemn you to prison if the man you shot was an assassin working with a dangerous alien. Not that he was complaining, quite the opposite actually. It was just all a lot to take in. _Aliens_ were real! And he had a new job defending humanity against extraterrestrial threats. It didn’t even matter now that his face had been all over the news and he certainly wouldn’t be able to work undercover again. The Stargate Program didn’t need him to do that. He wasn’t even sure if he’d miss it. It might be a nice change to just be himself for a while.

“Oh please, we worked with you. Of course you’re going to pass the tests,” Danny stated.

Callen grinned. “Thanks for the ego boost.”

Kono snorted, but added: “I’m surprised you even have to take them.”

“Don’t you?” 

Kono shook her head. “I guess we already proved ourselves,” she stated grinning proudly.

“Caught two criminals with members of the Stargate program,” Danny explained. “Among them one they seriously wanted to get their hands on.” And another one _he_ seriously wanted to het _his_ hands on. He still had a rather huge urge to throttle Delano for what he did to Grace, Kono, Malia and Kamekona. But at least the man was back in prison now. They had caught Delano because McKay had located the source of his video feed. The grumpy scientist had actually proven to be rather useful. Just like Cadman… A smile appeared on his lips as he thought of her. 

“That ought to do it,” Callen said with a nod. 

“What are you smiling about all of a sudden?” Steve asked glancing at Danny. He had expected the thought of Wo Fat and especially Delano would make Danny all grumpy, but he was _smiling_.

“Nothing,” Danny stated quickly.

Kono smirked. “That smile wouldn’t happen to have something to do with a rather hot redheaded soldier who happened to save your daughter’s life?”

“What?” Steve asked. “I thought you had a girlfriend.”

“You mean Gabrielle?” Kono asked. “They broke up over a month ago. She’s seeing someone else.”

“Sorry,” Steve said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Maybe because you were halfway around the world at the time, not even bothering to call and let us know you were still alive,” Danny muttered.

Steve sighed. He had walked right into that one, hadn’t he? Luckily the boat finally arrived at that moment, distracting them all.

“Lori?” Kono called surprised, noticing the other woman on the boat that was docking at the pier. “What are you doing here?” she asked, a wide smile appearing on her face. She had missed her former team mate a lot since she had been sent away by the Governor. It had been nice to have another woman on the team.

“Apparently I have been requested to show up for tests,” Lori Weston said throwing a meaningful look towards Steve before stepping out of the boat and hugging Kono.

Steve stared at Lori in surprise. He hadn’t known that she was coming. “Don’t look at me,” he stated hearing her words. He hadn’t requested her, even though it had crossed his mind. He had thought about suggesting to General O’Neill or Colonel Carter to hire Lori, but had hesitated because of what Lori told him before leaving. She kind of admitted that she had feelings for him. She masked it a little by amending that she had feelings towards the whole team, but he wasn’t stupid enough not to see through that. The problem wasn’t that she had feelings for him, it was that, if he was truthful with himself, he knew that he kind of had feelings for her, too, and that even though he did have a girlfriend. He thought he loved Catherine, but Lori kind of snuck up on him without him even realizing it. Maybe it was because Catherine was deployed and they rarely saw each other? He wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t sure what to do about his feelings either, which was exactly why he had never tried to change the governor’s mind about sending Lori away and hadn’t asked her to be brought into the Stargate Program either.

“You requested the _whole_ Five-0 team,” Lori clarified. “I guess someone thought that included me,” Lori said while giving Danny a hug.

“Sure does,” Danny stated smiling at her. “Good to see you again.”

“You, too,” Lori said before turning to Steve and looking up at him a little uncertainly. The last time she saw him she had kind of admitted her feelings to him. It had thought of felt like ‘now or never’ because she was leaving. He hadn’t really commented on it or said anything in return, which she guessed was understandable since he was in a relationship. Still, she had hoped to get more of a reaction. And she had not thought that she would see him again without the situation being resolved. On the other hand was there anything that needed to get resolved? He had a girlfriend and had not reacted to her admitting her feelings. He probably just saw her as a friend and had decided to pretend that he didn’t get what she meant to make it easier on both of them, and less awkward. She’d just have to deal with her unrequited feelings on her own, which would be really hard, she thought when he pulled her into a welcoming hug. She wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his scent briefly and repressing a content sigh. How the hell was she going to get over him now if she hadn’t managed to do it while they were apart?  
Letting go of Steve Lori caught Kono’s gaze and noticed her knowing grin. She groaned inwardly. Was she that obvious?

While Lori was welcomed by her former colleagues another reunion took place a few steps away.

“I can’t believe you managed to weasel your way out of that mess,” Sam Hanna stated grinning at Callen while jumping out of the boat.

“Me neither,” Callen answered while giving his partner a brief hug. “Me neither,” he repeated in almost a whisper.

Being pushed away by Kensi, who obviously wanted to greet Callen properly, too, Sam turned to the other people on the peer.

“McGarrett,” he said, seeing the other SEAL. “Glad to see you had the decency to show up yourself this time.”

Steve chuckled. “It wasn’t my fault that you had to come to Hawaii just when I wasn’t there.”

“Wasn’t mine either,” Sam stated. “How about we blame Dracul Comescue.”

“Works for me,” Steve said. He had read the report about the Romanian criminal who tried to sell small pocks. He definitely wasn’t sorry that Callen had to shoot the man. 

Turning to Danny Sam shook the Detective’s hand before asking. “How’s Winnie?”

“Who’s Winnie?” Steve wanted to know while Danny groaned.

“They named my car _Winifred_ ,” Danny stated in an exasperated tone of voice.

Steve chuckled. “I think it suits her.”

“It does not!” Danny exclaimed.

“Better than that stripper’s name you suggested,” Sam insisted.

Before long everyone had greeted everyone, introductions were made between the ones who hadn’t met yet, and they started to unload the luggage from the boat.

“Come on then, let’s have a proper look at Atlantis. It’s even more impressive on the inside,” Steve stated.

“I kinda doubt that,” Kensi muttered while looking up at the enormous city. They had a pretty good view of it once the boat reached the inside of the cloak that turned it invisible to the outside world. It was amazing. No wonder there were so many tales and myths about it. She could hardly believe that it was real, and that she would be working in it from now on. It definitely made leaving NCIS easier.

\---------------------------------------

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	6. Tests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> Animorphs: Rachel Berenson  
> Army Wives: Chase Moran, Frank Sherwood, Trevor LeBlanc  
> BTVS: Faith Lehane, Willow Rosenberg  
> Hawaii Five-0: Chin Ho Kelly, Lori Westen, Steve McGarrett  
> NCIS LA: G. Callen, Kensi Blye, Marty Deeks, Sam Hanna  
> Primeval: Becker  
> Stargateverse: Cameron Mitchell, Dusty Mehra, Jack O'Neill (+ clone), John Sheppard, Radek Zelenka, Ronon Dex, Sam Carter, Teal'c, Teyla Emmagan  
> Whoverse: Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, Sally Sparrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my awesome beta landiana24 for betaing for me! :-)

**Day 4 – Atlantis – early afternoon:**

Lieutenant Trevor LeBlanc looked around the room he was in. It was big and very strange. He had never seen anything like this building. It looked a little like out of a Science Fiction movie. This was definitely classified! He wondered where in California they were, but discarded the thought again quickly. They had flown out from Fort Marshall, were given the non-disclosure agreement, landed on a small and nondescript airport that could have been anywhere and were driven on a bus to a boat that took them to this place. The entire time they hadn’t really seen anything that would tell them where in America they were. If it weren’t for Roxy Trevor wouldn’t even know that they were in California. 

Glancing around the room that was rapidly filling with people Trevor went over to Major Sherwood and a few others from Fort Marshall. He was definitely glad that they were here, too, even though they might be his competition. He wasn’t sure how many people would actually be hired, but considering how many people were here he guessed a lot. They might be lucky and all get in.

“I don’t think this is just an American organization,” Major Frank Sherwood observed.

Trevor nodded. They had all been given the same kind of clothes, which had flags on their upper arms. Taking a quick look around he spotted Canadian, British, Chinese and Russian flags, in addition to more American ones. Then his gaze fell on a man who was walking towards him with a grin on his face.

“Chase?” he asked disbelievingly. “What are you doing here?”

“Same thing you are,” Chase said before turning to Major Sherwood and greeting him. “Sir.”

“Sergeant Moran, I was under the impression you left the Army,” Frank stated.

“I did, but let’s just say I kind of miss it…”

Trevor snorted. “Already?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have left,” Frank observed.

“You are completely right about that, sir,” Chase said. “But maybe I can rectify it now.”

“What does Pamela think about that?” Trevor wanted to know.

“I have no idea. She wasn’t at home when I got the call inviting me here, so I thought I might as well take the tests before telling her. No need to incur her wrath before I know if I even get in,” Chase admitted.

Trevor smirked slightly. “Sounds like a plan. But if you do get in I really don’t want to be there when you tell Pamela.”

“Me neither,” Chase said looking sheepish.

Frank snorted. “I don’t think you will have a choice.”

Their conversation came to a halt when General Jack O’Neill started his official welcoming speech.

\----- -----

Martha Jones listened to the General’s welcome. His speech wasn’t long and he ended it with information about the upcoming tests. There would be health and psych evaluations, followed by basic fitness, shooting range and self defence tests. Afterwards a mission would be simulated in teams. They had to retrieve an artefact, fight off an enemy, keep allies safe and rescue possible hostages. It sounded simple enough. The General’s last words were that they should be ready for anything and expect the unexpected. Martha snorted slightly. What a nice warning. Luckily she already knew all about those ‘unexpected’ things. Travelling with the Doctor through time and space and having worked for UNIT made sure that she knew all about alien threats. A simulated mission should be like a walk in the park compared to what she had been through already. Smirking slightly she turned to her left, where Mickey Smith and Sally Sparrow were standing. When her former boss at UNIT called and told her about the Stargate Program she made sure that he wouldn’t just get her an invitation to these tests, but Sally and Mickey as well. The three of them had been fighting alien threats together for the past years. After leaving UNIT Martha had moved back to London and started working as a regular Doctor, but that hadn’t been enough. She started investigating strange occurrences and ran into Mickey while chasing aliens. A few weeks later Mickey introduced her to his girlfriend Sally. Martha had been surprised to see Sally again, but the two of them quickly became best friends; and Sally had been more than ready to join their little freelance alien fighting group. Martha had a feeling that after her encounter with the Weeping Angels and the Doctor a normal life had been a bit too boring for Sally. Martha knew the feeling well.

She was about to wish Mickey and Sally good luck when her gaze fell on a man standing a few feet away. Martha’s eyes widened. It was Becker! She had met him about seven months ago in a bar. She had been in a pretty bad mood because she ran into her ex-husband Tom and his girlfriend - whom he had already had an affair with while they were still married - earlier. To cheer her up a friend had dragged her to a bar, where Martha met Becker. He had been in a pretty bad mood as well and they started drinking together. Somehow they managed to cheer each other up, then one thing led to another and they ended up at her place. Afterwards he promised to call, but never did. Apparently a one-night stand was all he wanted from her. Martha’s eyes narrowed. What the hell was he doing here? Yes, she knew that he was a soldier, but this wasn’t the only place a soldier could work! Why did he have to come _here_?

“You okay?” Sally asked.

Martha turned to her friend and quickly pushed away all thoughts about Becker. She would not let him ruin this for her! Freelancing with her two friends had been nice, but it was also dangerous. They had barely gotten away with their lives a number of times. They really needed backup. Plus the Stargate Program would allow her to travel to other planets again! She simply had to get in. She would concentrate on the tests ahead and not waste even a single thought on Becker. He certainly wasn’t worth it!

“I’m fine,” Martha answered. “Let’s do this.”

“Should be easy as pie,” Mickey stated with a grin. He had worked for Torchwood in the alternate reality after all, fought against countless aliens, among them Daleks and Cybermen. They’d be crazy not to hire him, right? Still, some of his old insecurity seemed to come back, making him a little anxious. He really wanted to get this job. The Stargate was fascinating. He simply had to walk through it at least once.

“Sure,” Sally said a little hesitantly.

Mickey took her hand and squeezed gently. “You’ll do fine,” he said. He knew that she was a little nervous as well. Most of the recruits were military after all, whilst they weren’t, but he had been trained by Torchwood and Martha by UNIT, and they had taught Sally everything they knew. He was sure she would do well.

Sally nodded and tried to give Mickey a smile. She could do this! She had come a long way since she helped the Doctor defeat the Weeping Angels, and even back then she had managed that. She would do fine, just like Mickey said.

\----- -----

Rachel Berenson stood in a room full of strangers, listening to General O’Neill’s speech. ‘Expect the unexpected’, she mused snorting slightly. Didn't she always? In fact she kind of always expected things that simply didn’t happen, not in this world at least. After the Ellimist saved her life by throwing her into an alternate reality nothing was as it used to be. There were no Yeerks invading Earth, no Andalites ever came to Earth and Rachel’s friends were normal human teenagers, not Animorphs. She lived a completely normal life. She even remembered growing up in this reality, but in addition to that she also remembered her life back in her own reality. Sometimes that seemed like out of a strange dream, but Rachel knew that it was real, because she could still morph into animals and whatever or better whoever else she acquired. It all happened, and as much as Rachel always thought she wished that things went back to normal, now she missed her crazy life. She simply couldn’t pretend that it didn’t happen. The war against the Yeerks had changed her irrevocably, turned her into a soldier. It was why she joined the Marine Corps after finishing High School. Her family and friends had been shocked, but they didn’t really know her. They weren’t even her real family and friends. Her real family and friends would understand, or maybe they’d think she was crazy to go and sign up to fight another war, after she had gotten the unique chance to live a normal life again. Whatever they’d think it didn’t really matter, since Rachel would never find out. She was stuck here and could never go back.

Pushing the thoughts about her past away Rachel followed her fellow recruits out of the room. It was time to face those tests. Her commanding officer had suggested her for this job and said that it was an amazing opportunity. It was all classified and mysterious, and Rachel was dying to find out what it was all about, especially now that she saw this place. It looked kind of… _alien_. She was probably jumping to conclusions because of her own past, but she didn’t think that humans built something like this. Maybe her life was finally about to get interesting again.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – a balcony – afternoon:**

Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell stepped onto a balcony and took a deep breath. Leaning against the railing he looked out at Atlantis and the ocean beyond it. The sight was breathtaking, which was why he came to this balcony whenever he was in Atlantis. He probably would be out here a lot now that he lived in the city. It tended to calm him down and let him breathe again whenever he felt like life couldn’t get any harder. Right now he did feel like that. The funeral had been hard. They had lost so many people in the bombing. The loss of his co-workers and friends was weighing him down, and Cam wondered how much more he could take. He wished he could use the ancient stones and go to Destiny. Being with TJ and Hope would surely help. But unfortunately they were in stasis pods, frozen for another two years… if they were lucky. If not, if Eli Wallace had calculated something wrong, Destiny would drift between galaxies for about a thousand years, and its crew would stay in their stasis pods for that long. He would never see TJ and their daughter again. He was determined to stay optimistic and not lose hope, but it was hard, especially today.

“Mitchell,” a voice said suddenly, making him turn around. “Colonel,” he said in greeting.

“I’m going to observe the new recruits self defence tests and could use another pair of eyes. You interested?” John Sheppard asked. Cam had that look again, the look that told John just how hard it all was for him. John considered Cam a close friend by now, and he knew about his relationship with Tamara Johansen and their daughter, who were both stuck on Destiny in a far away galaxy with no means of returning home. That would be hard on anyone on the best of days, and lately they were far away from even good days. John wished there was a way he could make things easier for Cam, but there wasn’t. A little distraction was all he had to offer.

“Sure,” Cam said. Something to do seemed like a good idea. It would keep his thoughts from straying to unwanted territories.

\----- ----- ----- ----- ------

**Day 4 – Atlantis – gym – afternoon:**

John leaned back against the wall observing the self defence test. Cam was taking notes, which John was grateful for. That way he only had to add some of his own observations later.  
The new recruits were sparring with Teyla, Ronon, Teal’c and McGarrett. They weren’t expected to win against one of them of course. In John’s opinion they were doing fine as long as they didn’t go down within a minute… which the first group of recruits unfortunately hadn’t managed. John sighed and shared a look with Cam. Well, things could only get better from here, right?

The next group did better. They didn’t stand a chance against their opponents, but they did hold their own well enough. 

“Three of them were suggested by UNIT,” Cam observed while writing down some observations. 

“UNIT?” John asked. He knew he had heard that before, but couldn’t remember what exactly it meant.

“ **UN** ified **I** ntelligence **T** askforce,” Cam stated. “They’ve been fighting alien threats far longer than the Stargate Program has even existed, but unlike us they are stuck on Earth,” he added with a smirk.

John snorted slightly. Yeah, going to other planets definitely was a plus. He could hardly believe that he had hesitated at all before joining the SGP. He loved his job, no matter how hard it could be on some days. On others it was simply amazing, and being a soldier was never easy anyway.

“Next,” John called after a while. Three men and a woman entered and Cam paired them up.

“They used to work for NCIS. Naval Criminal Investigative Service,” Cam clarified. “They were stationed in its Office of Special Projects.”

“Interesting,” John mused, already curious to see how they would be doing.

“Special Agent Hanna used to be a SEAL,” Cam added while giving the signal to start.

\----- -----

Steve grinned when he was paired with Sam Hanna. Finally a real challenge, he thought as they started to spar.

“You’ve been in better shape, Sir,” Sam teased as he landed a blow.

Steve snorted before retaliating and landing a kick that made his friend stumble backwards.

“I could say the same about you, Chief,” he stated while circling his opponent.

Sam chuckled, enjoying himself. McGarrett had always been one of his favorite sparring partners. 

\----- -----

“They seem to enjoy themselves,” John observed gesturing at McGarrett and Hanna.

“I think they know each other. McGarrett’s a SEAL, too,” Cam said.

“Right,” John muttered, remembering that he had heard that before. “Maybe we should have let SEALs join the SGP sooner,” he said. They definitely were a force to be reckoned with, as the two SEALs in this room demonstrated.

Cam nodded before turning his attention to the other pairs. That Sam Hanna got an outstanding review was pretty clear by now. 

Following Cam’s example John focused on the other recruits as well. They weren’t as good as Hanna, but did a great job, too. He especially liked watching Kensi Blye sparring with Teyla. Watching the two women could only be described as hot.

John grinned mischievously. “We’re so keeping _her_.”

“Yeah,” Cam muttered, then cleared his throat slightly before writing down his observations about Special Agent Blye and her co-workers. They were definitely all worth keeping.

“Next,” John called. He had seen enough.

The NCIS group left and was replaced by the two people from Five-0 that John hadn’t met yet, and two others. His gaze immediately fell on the second woman. She was young, blonde and looked like she belonged on a catwalk or movie screen. She was more than just beautiful. What made someone like her decide to become a soldier?

“Captain Rachel Berenson, US Marines Corps,” Cam read from his list, having noticed John’s look. Wow, a Captain at her age. She had to be good. Looking up from his files he watched as she started to spar with Ronon. He had a feeling that the Satedan was holding back a little, but Berenson was still doing a really good job. He guessed that explained her choice of career. Still, with her looks it was almost a crime that she wasn’t a movie star or model. 

Tearing his eyes away from the blond marine John looked over to the two Five-0 members. They were doing a great job as well. Not that he had expected anything else. Having worked with Five-0 he was sure that they didn’t employ anyone who wasn’t at least good. That left the fourth recruit. John turned to observe his sparring with McGarrett. He was doing pretty well, too.

“Captain Becker, UK Special Forces,” Cam said. “He was suggested by the British IOA member.”

“Looks like we have an IOA member who actually had a good idea,” John observed dryly, but then fell silent. Woolsey was a member of the IOA as well after all and had done a pretty decent job while in charge of the Atlantis expedition. John even missed the man occasionally since Atlantis had fallen back under military command.

The next group of recruits were from Fort Marshall, the 23rd Airborne Division of the US Army, which was being closed. Cam had no idea why. The men he was observing were holding their own quite well. Turning back to his notes he wrote down his observations.

After they were finished three Russians and one American woman entered the room. Cam paired them up, then looked at his list.

“Faith Lehane,” he said. “I think she is that slayer Sam has been talking about. “This should be interesting.”

John briefly glanced at Cam, nodding, then gave the signal to start, his eyes fixed on Ronon and the slayer. They had barely started when Ronon hit the mat. John chuckled slightly. Apparently no one had told his friend not to go easy on a slayer, or that Faith was a slayer in the first place. He grinned. It was a nice change to see Ronon out-matched for once. The Satedan however didn’t seem to think so. Jumping up gracefully he circled Faith, apparently ready for a real fight now. And what a fight it turned out to be. John had never seen anyone move the way Faith did. There was definitely something supernatural involved. No one else could fight Ronon like that, not even Teyla and Teal’c.

After staring at Ronon and Faith for about five minutes John finally remembered that they had others to observe as well. Nudging Cam he gestured at the Russians.

“Right,” Cam muttered tearing his eyes away from Faith and Ronon reluctantly. The Russians sparring wasn’t half as interesting, but they were pretty good anyway. O’Neill would be pleased, since he had promised the Russians, as well as the Chinese, full teams to get them off his back.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – break room – afternoon:**

Captain Becker walked into a room, his hair still damp from showering. Looking around the room he once more noticed how strange the building looked. Kind of futuristic, he thought before snorting slightly. The actual future didn’t look anything like this after all. He should know, since he had been there, a few times actually. It resembled an apocalyptic ruin, not this place. He quickly pushed those thoughts away. They only led to thoughts about his lost and dead team members, and especially Sarah, who had died in that future, killed by future predators.

Sighing Becker walked over to the buffet and grabbed a sandwich, determined to leave the past in the past and focus on what was important right now. His father had pulled all kinds of strings to get him invited to these tests and Becker wasn’t going to disappoint him by failing. Besides, now that he was here he was dying to know what this was all about. It was highly classified and very mysterious. He simply had to pass the tests so he would be told what exactly the Stargate Program was about. Besides, this was his best excuse not to return to the ARC. He had been contacted a few times by the newly formed ARC already. They wanted him back because James Lester apparently didn’t want to return unless Becker did, too. He really had no idea why Lester wanted him back. It had been his job to protect the team and he had failed miserably. Two of them were dead, three lost in time, presumably dead. Several military personnel had died on his watch, too. He simply couldn’t go back. They’d be better off without him, and hopefully he would be better off in this place as well. 

Eating a bite from his sandwich Becker glanced around the room. The blonde who had been in his self defence group was at the buffet. She looked stunning. He had no idea why she became a soldier, but he had to admit that she had done pretty well while fighting the tall long-haired member of the Stargate Program. For a moment he wondered if he should go talk to her. Most recruits were here in groups, but she seemed to be alone, just like he was. However, before he could make a decision another woman joined the blonde at the buffet. Becker’s eyes widened. It was Martha! His eyes were fixed on her as memories came back to him, memories of them in a bar, drinking, then of them kissing and… He quickly pushed those memories away. He was NOT going to think about _that_ now. There were a lot more important things, like what the hell she was doing here. She said that she was a doctor. Why would a British doctor be here? Yes, it was an international organisation and they needed doctors, too, but if she was a doctor, why would she be among the recruits? He frowned, really not liking this. He had stayed away from her even though he really had wanted to see her again, because he didn’t want to get her involved in his messy life. People he cared about tended to get killed or lost in time. Even after just one night he cared about her way too much to want to put her in any kind of danger. And now she was here! He didn’t know what this was about yet, but he had a feeling that it was way too dangerous for him to want Martha anywhere near it. Still, what could he do? Go over to her and tell her to go home? Right, as if she’d listen to him after what happened between them. He was pretty sure he had burned that bridge when not calling her after they had sex.

\----- ----- 

About ten minutes later Colonels Sheppard and Mitchell came into the room and paired them up into groups for the simulation of missions. Becker could hardly believe it, but he was actually placed on a team with Martha. Well, at least he could keep an eye on her that way… to keep her safe of course, not because she was still as hot as he remembered her.

Martha frowned when she heard the team assignments. There were dozens of recruits here and she had to end up on a team with Becker? At least Sally and Mickey were on her team, too, which was a plus. Their team leader was Colonel Jack O’Neill, and he looked way too young to be a Colonel. How the hell did that happen, she wondered for a moment. And O’Neill… wasn’t the General in charge of the SGP called O’Neill, too? Were they related? She guessed she’d find out sooner or later.

After finishing to read the team assignments Colonel Mitchell came over to Martha and her team and gestured for them to follow him, which luckily saved Martha from having to do more than briefly greet Becker. She was sure that he recognized her though, and the look he gave her was anything but pleased. Apparently he didn’t like to meet his conquests again after he got what he wanted. 

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon:**

“You sure you don’t want to join the Stargate Program, too?” Sam Carter asked glancing at Willow Rosenberg. Since the redhead had come to Atlantis they had spend a lot of time together and Sam was starting to consider her a friend. Willow was brilliant, funny and a powerful witch, the SGP would be thrilled to have her, and Sam definitely wouldn’t mind having her around either.

“Thanks for the offer,” Willow answered. “But I already have an important job.” There were still a lot more slayers than watchers and Willow couldn’t just abandon hers and hand them over to another watcher. “I’m just going to be your liaison to the Watchers Council, which should mean that I’ll be here a lot, especially since Faith joined up.” Willow was still a little surprised that Faith had actually decided to join the Stargate Program. Faith was so independent and still a bit of a loner. Imagining her in a military organisation was a little hard. On the other hand the rigid organisation, discipline and team work might do her some good. Willow really hoped it would. She considered Faith one of her best friends by now, and she was one of her slayers, which Willow considered family. She wished her only the best.

Sam nodded. At least they were getting a slayer. If half of what Sam read about slayers was true she was sure Faith would be a great addition to the SGP. And they’d see just how good she was during the tests.

Willow was just about to say something else when her gaze fell on a woman. She had never seen her before, but something about her felt… off. Narrowing her eyes she concentrated and looked at her with all her senses. Then her eyes widened. There was something inside her…

“Sam, I think she’s a Goa’uld,” Willow exclaimed pointing at the woman.

“What? How…” Sam muttered, but broke off and pulled her gun. Willow was a witch, and Sam wasn’t sure if she’d even understand if Willow explained how she knew what she knew. Besides, explanations could wait. 

“Sergeant Mehra,” Sam called, hiding her gun behind her back. “A word, please.” It would be best to get her away from innocent bystanders. Unfortunately Mehra, or whoever was in control of her body at the moment, didn’t play along. Instead she ran.

“Crap,” Sam muttered and rushed after her while tapping her radio and informing the control room of what was going on.

Turning around a corner Sam pointed her gun at Mehra, but at the same time Radek Zelenka stepped out of his lab and the Goa’uld grabbed him, holding him in front of her like a shield and pointing a gun at his head.

“Get back!”

Sam frowned, but didn’t have a choice. She lowered her gun slightly and made a step back.

“You’re never going to get out of the city,” she called. The Goa’uld just smirked and went towards a transporter, dragging a whimpering Zelenka with her.

Sam’s mind was racing when Mehra was suddenly pulled away from Zelenka, thrown through the air and crashed into the wall next to the transporter. Wow, so that’s what a witch looked like in action, Sam thought as Willow stepped next to her with a small smirk. 

“Thanks,” Sam muttered, then quickly walked towards Mehra, who seemed to be out cold. Pushing away the gun the Goa’uld had dropped Sam knelt down in front of the woman. That was when Mehra opened her eyes and kicked Sam in the chest, making her stumble backwards and right into Willow. As they hit the ground together the Goa’uld jumped up and ran into the transporter. 

Rolling out from under Sam Willow concentrated and telekinetically pulled the Goa’uld out of the transporter. Unfortunately the woman dropped something into the transporter just before its doors closed.

“What did you throw inside?” Sam called while pushing herself up and pointing her gun at the Goa’uld. Unfortunately the question was unnecessary as an explosion could be heard a few seconds later. It was distant, but made the whole city shake anyway.

“Thanks for pulling me out of there,” the Goa’uld said with a sneer.

\---------------------------------------

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	7. Unexpected Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> Animorphs: Rachel Berenson  
> Army Wives: Chase Moran, Frank Sherwood, Michael Holden, Trevor LeBlanc  
> BTVS: Faith Lehane, Riley Finn, Willow Rosenberg  
> Hawaii Five-0: Kono Kalakaua, Steve McGarrett  
> NCIS LA: Eric Beale, Hetty Lange, Nell Jones  
> Primeval: Becker, Stephen Hart  
> Stargateverse: Alison Porter, Amelia Banks, Chuck, Daniel Jackson, Evan Lorne, clone!Jack O'Neill, Laura Cadman, Radek Zelenka, Rodney McKay, Sam Carter  
> Whoverse: Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, Sally Sparrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my awesome beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this! :-)

**Day 4 – Atlantis – Rodney’s lab - afternoon:**

Rodney sat in front of his laptop, watching the new recruits. His lab had been turned into the headquarters for the observation of the new recruits’ simulations, much to his dismay. As if he didn’t have anything better to do. He had diagnostics to run, ancient devices to check out, safety measures to update… But General O’Neill had personally ordered him to watch these stupid military _games_. The man really didn’t like him and used every opportunity he got to make his life miserable. Why? Rodney had no idea.

Sighing Rodney made sure that all programs worked properly and the simulations would be measured accurately. Everything looked fine. All shots, hits and misses were counted, and the missions recorded. In addition the missions were observed by Cadman, Lorne and the new guy. Rodney had no idea what his name was, but he guessed he’d find out sooner or later.

Yawning slightly Rodney wondered if anyone would notice if he snuck out and went to the cafeteria. He was pretty hungry; boredom usually did that to him. Maybe Jennifer would come with him if she had time. He glanced around at Cadman and the others who were looking at their laptops intently and taking notes. They didn’t seem to need him. Making his decision he stood up to leave when the whole city suddenly started to shake and a noise that sounded suspiciously like an explosion could be heard in the distance. Then an alarm started. Oh crap…

“What the hell…” Lorne muttered holding on to the table in front of him.

“What just happened?” Cadman called.

“Give me a second,” Rodney called looming over his laptop and running a few diagnostics. “The explosion was in an abandoned part of the city,” he stated a few minutes later. “But some of the recruits…” 

“Is that a Wraith?” Lorne called, interrupting Rodney.

“What? Where?” Rodney asked, startled. 

“Near recruits team 3,” Lorne answered.

“Crap,” Rodney muttered looking at the video feed set up for the missions. It really did look like a Wraith, and not just _one_ of them. “How the hell did Wraith get into Atlantis?” They hadn’t seen Wraith since leaving the Pegasus Galaxy and destroying the one Hive that had found Earth’s location. Their long range sensors hadn’t picked up any ships either.

“We have to go,” Lorne stated getting up and ignoring Rodney’s question. How they got in wasn’t what was most important right now. The recruits didn’t have real weapons, and most of them had no idea what Wraith where. The ones that did had never faced them either.

Riley was just about to follow Lorne when he noticed something on the video feed of team 1.

“Are that dinosaurs?” he called, bringing the others to a halt.

“What?” Cadman called looking back at her laptop.

“Team 1,” Riley said.

Cadman’s eyes widened. “What the hell is going on here?” she wanted to know.

“I have no idea,” Rodney muttered. “But I’m getting some strange energy readings from an abandoned part of the city near where the explosion was.”

“Okay…,” Lorne muttered. “MacKay, check out the energy readings and inform the control room about what’s going on. We’re going to help the recruit teams.” 

Leaving the lab Lorne almost ran into Commander McGarrett and one of his team members.

“What’s going on?” Kono asked over the blaring alarm.

“I’m going to tell you on the way to the armory,” Lorne stated gesturing for them to follow.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon:**

After handing the now unconscious Goa’uld over to Major Teldy to be locked up until they had time to interrogate her, Sam Carter, Willow Rosenberg and Radek Zelenka went to the control room.

“How bad is it?” Sam called over the noise of the cities alarm.

“The explosion was in an abandoned part of the city,” Amelia Banks said.

Sam let out a sigh of relief. Maybe they finally had at least a tiny bit of luck…

“But one of the recruit teams was nearby,” Chuck stated.

So much for luck, Sam thought. “How close? And how bad is the damage?”

“Parts of the city have started to flood, which initiated safety protocols. The city has shut off the flooding parts,” Amelia summarized.

“Please tell me the recruits team isn’t inside the flooding part,” Sam muttered. The Hammond had already left and was in hyperspace by now, which meant that they had no beaming technology at the moment, as all other ships were still on missions, too. If the recruits were trapped they really did have a problem. 

“We’re not really sure,” Chuck said. “We can’t seem to reach them and the life sign detectors aren’t working properly either.”

Sam sighed. Of course nothing was working properly. That would be too easy. Hopefully no contact didn’t mean that the recruits were dead. Walking over to a console Sam checked out the situation for herself. Maybe she could find a way to reach the recruits.

“We have another problem,” Amelia stated. “Rodney just told me that he noticed some strange energy readings in an abandoned part of the city. Could be an ancient lab.”

“Could be?” Willow asked. 

“Well, we still haven’t managed to check out the entire city,” Zelenka answered while walking over to a console.

“I thought you found the city 8 years ago,” Willow said.

“It’s a big city,” Sam stated.

“And something always comes up,” Zelenka added. He could hardly remember a week with no emergencies. Even when nothing too awful happened they were still busy with one project or another. “But we have checked out about 80% of the city by now.”

“Just not that part,” Willow concluded.

“No, not that part,” Sam agreed before looking at a screen which now showed where the source of the energy irregularities was. It was near the explosion. Sam sighed. They had made sure the test missions would be in safe areas, but one team was close to an unchecked part of the city, in addition to being near the explosion. She had to shut down whatever gave off those energy readings, before it put that recruits team in even more danger… if it hadn’t already.

“I think whatever is giving off that energy is why we can’t reach the recruits. Their radios are dead, but ours are still working,” Zelenka said. 

Definitely still working, Sam thought as she heard Cam and Teal’c over her radio.

“Hang on a sec, Cam, Teal’c,” she told them as General Holden and Hetty Lange came into the control room followed by some others. “We’ll get back to you ASAP.”

“What hap-?” Hetty asked, but was interrupted by Amelia who was still getting information from Rodney over her radio.

“We have Wraith in the city…”

“What?” Sam asked surprised.

“…and _dinosaurs_.”

“You’re kidding?!” Eric Beale exclaimed.

“Welcome to the Stargate Program,” Chuck muttered dryly. They might not have encountered dinosaurs so far, but he didn’t doubt Amelia’s words for a second. Nothing was impossible in their line of work.

Sam frowned before turning to Hetty and General Holden.

“They are going to bring you up to speed,” she said gesturing at Zelenka and the technicians. “I have to go.” She needed to have a look at whatever was giving off the energy readings. If it was an ancient device that had been activated in the explosion it might be damaged and extremely dangerous. One explosion was more than enough. Everything else could be dealt with by someone else. Hetty and General Holden were in the control room after all. They could organize everything. It might be their first day here, but they surely had experience with crisis situations.

“I’m coming with you,” Willow said following her. 

Sam nodded while hurrying towards the closest transporter. She might need her help.

“Keep trying to contact the recruits, send out teams and keep me updated,” Sam called before they were out of earshot. 

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon – recruits team 1:**

“What the hell?” Major Frank Sherwood muttered as the hologram of their enemy disappeared when being shot by Captain Berenson and Faith. Yes, the General had warned them to expect the unexpected, but that the enemy had greenish skin and disfigured features was a little out there, wasn’t it? LeBlanc and Moran looked just as irritated as he did. The two women on the other hand didn’t even blink. 

“What was that supposed to be?” Trevor asked.

“Wraith, I think,” Faith muttered.

“Wraith?” Chase asked with a raised eyebrow.

Faith narrowed her eyes. Apparently the recruits hadn’t been told about Wraith yet. Did they even know about aliens and the supernatural? “I’m sure you’ll be told all about Wraith once you get into the Stargate Program,” Faith said, not wanting to tell them too much. She was pretty sure that they would get in, based on their performance so far, but nothing was certain in life. “So why don’t we get this game over with by finding the artifact?”

“I’m with her,” Rachel said. Now that she had seen the hologram of that Wraith she was sure that this really had something to do with aliens. She simply had to pass these tests and get in! For the first time since the Ellimist brought her to this reality she started to feel like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. She liked the feeling.

Frank simply nodded. He really did want to know what this was all about. Where these people playing a joke on them or was there something going on that was way beyond his wildest dreams? “Let’s get that artifact,” he stated, gave a few signals and moved forward, fake p-90 held high.

\----- -----

About fifteen minutes later they had taken down at least eight enemies, which all looked odd to some degree, and rescued a hostage, Dr. Alison Porter. Then they spotted the artifact.

“Get it,” Frank told Trevor while he and the others took defensive positions in case of another attack.

Trevor stepped towards the artifact, then the whole city started to shake and an explosion could be heard in the distance.

“That did _not_ sound and feel like a simulation,” Frank muttered while pushing himself up and holding a hand out to Berenson. 

Taking the offered hand Rachel pulled herself up. “No, sir, it did not,” she agreed. The sound might be from a simulation, but the city shaking? She didn’t think the Stargate Program would go to that much trouble. 

“I wasn’t told about any plans for fake explosions,” Alison said while getting up with Trevor’s help.

“Great,” Faith muttered before tapping her radio. They were only supposed to use their radios to talk to their team mates during the test, but Faith was fairly certain that the time for tests was over. “Willow, Sam, what’s going on?” She didn’t get an answer, just some static noise.

“We should go to the next transporter,” Alison suggested when it became apparent that none of their radios were working. 

“Transporter?” Chase asked.

“The elevator thingy that got us to this part of the city,” Faith explained.

“I thought that _was_ an elevator,” Trevor muttered while following Alison.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that…” Alison started.

“It doesn’t just take you to other floors, but other parts of the city, too,” Faith summed it up.

“You know a lot about all of this,” Frank observed glancing at Faith.

“I’ve been here for a few days,” she answered, then smiled as she spotted a transporter at the other end of the corridor.

They had almost made it to the transporter when a wave of greenish light suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blinding them momentarily.

“You know what that is, too?” Frank wanted to know.

“Not a clue,” Faith answered while shielding her eyes with her hand.

“Me neither,” Alison stated, wishing that she had her tablet with her and could take some readings. 

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**London – about 2 years ago:**

Stephen Hart stood in a locked room full of deadly creatures, his eyes fixed on the door, through which he could see his best friend, Nick Cutter, looking in. He didn’t really want to look anywhere else. He saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and knew that it couldn’t be anything good, probably the Smilodon, a dinosaur, one of the future predators, or whatever else was ready to eat him.

So this was it, he thought. He had faced danger so many times and always gotten away, but not this time. He was going to die in a matter of minutes, probably even seconds. There simply was no way out of this. He knew it when he went into the room to lock the creatures in. He didn’t want to die, but he wanted to watch Cutter die even less. Someone had to lock the room and the only still functioning locking mechanism was inside. Helen would never have sacrificed herself, even though this was her mess. Stephen frowned. How could he have been stupid enough to trust her? She had lied to him the whole time and he hadn’t seen it. He guessed it served him right that he paid the price for his stupidity now.

Something came closer and jumped. Stephen instinctively moved out of the way. Death might be inevitable, but he couldn’t just give in, and even more importantly he couldn’t let himself get eaten while Cutter could still see him. However, it didn’t take long until one of the creatures caught him. Pain shot through Stephen as claws grazed his arm. He stumbled and fell to the ground. Something was looming over him, but before it could strike another even bigger prehistoric animal jumped on it and they started to fight. This had been the plan. Get all the creatures into one room and let them fight and eat each other. Too bad he was in the middle of it all.

Something roared, other animals moaned, and a lot of them were coming towards Stephen now. The smell of his blood announced him as easy prey. His heart pounded loudly as he got to his feet slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements. He had to get away, just a few more steps. He couldn’t risk that Cutter could still see him. Making a step backwards Stephen tried to ignore the knowledge that that could be just as deadly as stepping forward, towards the approaching Smilodon with its huge sabre-teeth. 

While Stephen walked backwards a bright greenish light suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Stephen shielded his eyes reflexively, just as something hit him in the side and knocked him a few feet away. He groaned, holding his bleeding and aching arm. His head and chest hurt from the impact as well. For a moment he wondered if he should just stay on the ground, eyes closed. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t see it coming… whatever it was that would kill him. But then he remembered the light. Where did it come from? Could it be an anomaly? Could he be that lucky? No, the light had been green. Still, he had to check what it was. Opening his eyes Stephen noticed that the light was fading. Then he frowned. He was no longer in the same room. He was actually in a corridor. There were still dinosaurs and other creatures around, but far less than before. And there were people a few feet away. How the hell did that happen?

\----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon – recruits team 2:**

“Holy crap,” Frank exclaimed as the light faded. The corridor they were in was now filled with at least a dozen creatures that looked suspiciously like dinosaurs and a sabre-tooth tiger to him.

“Please tell me those are holograms,” Chase muttered before firing his fake p-90. Unfortunately the dinosaur he aimed at didn’t react, which meant that he hadn’t hit a hologram.

“I don’t believe so,” Alison answered swallowing hard.

“Does anyone have real weapons?” Faith asked and glanced at Alison. She had seen that most people in Atlantis carried weapons everywhere.

“I’m a scientist, I don’t usually carry weapons around,” Alison whispered. The others all shook their heads.

“Okay,” Faith muttered stepping in front of the others and pulling out a stake from her boot. She never went anywhere without one, but she didn’t really think that a stake would do her much good against freaking dinosaurs. Still, it was better than nothing.

“Everyone stay silent and get back slowly,” Frank instructed in a whisper. “No sudden movements.” So far the animals hadn’t paid them much attention, but who knew how long that would last?

They started to comply when Rachel suddenly stopped. “Wait. There’s someone…” she muttered and pointed to the left. A man just stood up and pressed himself against the wall, trying to stay out of the dinosaurs’ way. Dinosaurs… wow, Rachel hadn’t thought she’d ever see dinosaurs again in her life. Once was surreal enough, but twice? And especially in this reality, where nothing unusual had happened before today. She really wished she could still morph a dinosaur, but after they came back from the past none of the Animorphs had been able to morph anything they acquired in the past. Maybe she should morph into an elephant? That was the only thing she could morph that was big enough to allow her to defend the others. She really didn’t want to reveal her secret, especially not now that she finally felt like she could fit in somewhere, but she couldn’t risk the others lives, and her own, either. They were utterly defenceless right now.

“Crap,” Faith muttered, now seeing the man standing between the dinosaurs, too. They couldn’t just leave him behind.

“Please don’t freak out,” Rachel said glancing at her team members. “I’ll explain this later.” There really was no time right now. She started to concentrate and felt the changes begin. Her legs started to get bigger and stronger, her skin turned grey and thicker, her ears grew, followed by her nose and the rest of her head. Then her entire body felt like it was shooting up into the air as she grew bigger.

“I’m way beyond freaked out,” Trevor muttered. They were facing _dinosaurs_! What could possibly shock him now? That was before he saw what Berenson meant. She was… _changing_.

“Oh my god,” Frank exclaimed, not for the first time wondering if this was all just a bizarre dream.

“Somebody pinch me, please,” Chase muttered as the pretty blond marine turned into a huge elephant. This really could not be happening!

Faith whistled slightly when Rachel changed, then started to wonder if the blonde was in league with Ba’al. Robin stated in his files that at least some of Ba’al’s people were shapeshifters. Sam had told her that that probably wasn’t the case. Goa’uld could change hosts and look different because of that. Faith had thought that that was a good bet. Robin could have drawn the wrong conclusions, since he didn’t know about Goa’uld. Now however Faith wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Rachel obviously was a shapeshifter. She sighed. She really had liked the blonde.

“Get back,” she whispered to the others. Rachel might be just as dangerous as the rest of the animals.

As the changes came to an end and the elephant’s instincts set in Rachel started to feel much more confident. The elephant didn’t know fear or worry like a human did. It was used to being the biggest and one of the strongest creatures in its natural habitat. Rachel grinned, or would have grinned if she had been in human from. She had almost forgotten how great it felt to be in elephant morph.

 _‘Stay behind me,’_ she told the others in thought-speak. _‘Or better… get back, find a room and lock yourself in. I’ll get the man,”_ she amended. The further away the others were the better.

“What?” Trevor muttered, his eyes widening. It sounded, or better felt like Captain Berenson’s voice was directly in his head. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? He snorted. Yeah, as ridiculous as living dinosaurs and shapeshifters!

 _‘Go!’_ Rachel insisted in thought-speak before stepping forward.

Faith narrowed her eyes. Was Rachel trying to protect them? Maybe she wasn’t in league with Ba’al after all. Or was this all some kind of plot?

\----- -----

Stephen pushed himself up and leaned against the wall, feeling a little dizzy. Taking a deep breath he glanced around. Most of the dinosaurs that came here with him – wherever here was – were herbivores. They were still dangerous though, because they were big and could easily trample him to death. Still he moved closer to one of them, deciding that it might be a good idea to get it between him and the approaching Smilodon with its already bloody sabre-teeth. In addition to that he was moving towards the other humans. Glancing at them briefly he froze. What the hell was that? Something oddly grotesque was changing and growing, until it looked like an elephant. Stephen had seen a lot in his life already, but this was beyond weird. He was still staring at the elephant when he felt something breathing down his neck. Trying not to move even a tiny bit he glimpsed the Smilodon out of the corner of his eye. Crap! Memories of how it killed Valerie came rushing back at him and he swallowed, then the elephant suddenly trumpeted and came rushing forward, pulling the Smilodon’s attention away from Stephen.

When Rachel, or better the elephant, rushed towards the sabre-tooth tiger Faith followed. Avoiding a big dinosaur and jumping over a smaller one she landed next to the man and quickly pushed him behind her while Rachel started to fight with the tiger. The elephant was bigger, but the tiger was vicious and blood soon trickled down the grey skin of the elephant. Frowning Faith tried to come up with a plan. She had to do something! It really didn’t look like Rachel was evil. If she were she surely wouldn’t risk her own life for a stranger. Without another thought she turned to the man: “Get out of here!” That said she rushed forward, jumped on the tiger’s back and drove her stake into its neck.

 _‘Are you crazy?’_ Rachel called in thought-speak.

“Since I’m hearing voices in my head… yeah, probably,” Faith answered sarcastically just before the sabre-tooth shook itself violently, making her lose her hold and crash into the wall. Pushing herself up Faith saw the tiger move faster than she thought possible and suddenly found herself face to face with it. Her eyes widened, then the elephant crashed into the tiger, pushing it away. A second later shots erupted and all hell broke loose as roaring animals started to run. 

“Not the elephant,” Faith called loudly, stepping in front of Rachel, her hands raised.

“Faith!” someone called, then she felt herself lifted into the air, the elephants trump curled around her. Looking down Faith saw the elephant’s skin turn red with blood just about where she had been standing a second earlier.

 _‘You really are crazy,’_ Rachel decided in thought-speak.

Faith snorted before looking at the new arrivals. “Stop shooting at us!” 

\----- -----

Riley stepped out of the transporter after Major Lorne, p-90 at the ready. The next second he was pushed away by the man. Hitting the wall he saw a dinosaur thundering past them. That had been close, he thought before muttering a ‘thanks’ to Lorne and taking a proper look around. There were at least a dozen dinosaurs and other animals around. He saw some recruits behind them, at the end of the corridor. Great, so much for getting weapons from the armory for them… They had to reach them first! Then his gaze fell on Faith who was right in the middle of the animals, facing a sabre-tooth tiger. His eyes widened and his heart started to beat faster at the sight. Pulling his p-90 he started firing just as and elephant ran into the tiger, pushing it away from Faith. He let out a sigh of relief, but kept firing. Faith was still in danger after all. The sabre-tooth was already getting up again and the elephant was definitely way too close to her. Then Faith suddenly jumped in front of the elephant.

“Faith!” he screamed desperately while quickly stopping to shoot and hoping that he – and Lorne – had been fast enough. At the same time the elephant lifted Faith up with its trunk. 

_“Stop shooting at us!”_

“Us?” Lorne asked.

“Shapeshifter over here,” Faith called pointing at the elephant. 

“What?” Lorne demanded.

“That’s Captain Rachel Berenson, and she’s on our side,” Faith stated. Rachel had saved her life at least twice now. The men however didn’t seem convinced, even when Rachel put her down.

“Come over here,” Riley called. If Berenson really was a shapeshifter she might be in league with Ba’al. He wasn’t sure if Faith would be dumb enough not to consider that herself, but he wasn’t willing to take a risk with her life. That elephant could crush her, slayer or no slayer.

“Watch out!” someone suddenly yelled at the same time as other voices called: “Behind you!” and “The sabre-tooth tiger!”

Too focused on making sure that Riley and Lorne stopped shooting at Rachel Faith had almost missed the sabre-tooth’s attack. It had rushed off when the two men started shooting before, but had apparently doubled back. Moving as fast as she could Faith rushed towards Riley and Lorne who were turning around and started shooting. The sabre-tooth jumped, claws extended, coming towards the two men. It all seemed to happen like in slow motion. Faith’s heart pounded loudly in her chest as she tried not to imagine what that tiger could do to Riley. She couldn’t let that happen!

Just before the sabre-tooth landed Faith reached the men, gave Lorne a slight push to the right and grabbed Riley, throwing herself and him to the left. As they fell Faith felt something sharp graze her shoulder. Pain rushed through her, then they hit the ground. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder Faith quickly pushed off Riley and turned around. Rachel was fighting with the sabre-tooth again, her trunk all bloody.

 _‘Get out of here!’_ Rachel yelled in open thought-speak. She was already feeling weak and the damn sabre-tooth was strong. She wasn’t sure if she could defeat it. Then shots erupted again, hitting the tiger. Out of the corner of her eye Rachel saw that her team mates and the stranger hadn’t run off like she had told them before. Instead they apparently had found weapons, probably dropped by the two new arrivals, and were shooting now. Bleeding heavily the sabre-tooth eventually sank to the floor, roaring one last time. 

When the tiger finally didn’t move anymore Riley turned to Faith.

“Are you okay?” he asked, then winced when his gaze fell on her shoulder, which had bloody claw marks. 

Faith looked at Riley surprised when she heard the concerned tone of his voice. He couldn’t actually be concerned about her, could he?

“It’s nothing…” she started.

“Doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Trevor muttered next to her.

“I’m a fast healer,” Faith added in explanation before looking back at Riley.

“Slayer, remember?” She grinned slightly and repressed a wince. She might heal fast, but her shoulder still hurt like hell right now.

“Let’s get you to the infirmary,” Lorne said. “Then we’re going after the dinosaurs.”

“I’m coming with you,” Faith objected while ripping off part of her shirt to bandage herself up for now.

Riley quickly helped Faith and started wrapping the cloth around Faith’s upper arm and shoulder.

“No, you’re not,” Lorne stated firmly.

“I’m a slayer,” Faith called. “It’s my…”

“You’re a member of the Stargate Program and…” Lorne interrupted, but Faith didn’t let him finish either.

“…duty to protect people. No, it’s actually my destiny. And I’m not a member of the Stargate Program yet, so I can do whatever I…” She broke off when a thudding noise distracted her. Turning slightly she saw that the elephant – Rachel - was laying on the ground now, bleeding from several wounds.

“Rachel!” she called and quickly went over to the elephant.

Seeing the elephant go down Stephen stepped towards it and placed a gentle hand on it. It was injured pretty badly. He didn’t think it was going to make it. He hated to see a magnificent animal like this die. But was it even really an elephant, he wondered, remembering how it had changed.

Hearing Faith Rachel stirred. That was her name! Her brain was fuzzy and she felt so tired, but deep down she knew that there was something she needed to do, something important. What was it?

“We need to help her,” Faith said. 

“She needs a doctor,” Riley agreed. The elephant had fought the sabre-tooth tiger, which meant that this shifter probably wasn’t evil. 

“Something is still interfering with the radios,” Lorne said after trying his. “And we can’t carry _that_.” He gestured at the elephant.

“She’s not a ‘that’,” Faith objected. “She’s a person! She probably saved us all.”

“I know,” Riley said grabbing Faith by her uninjured shoulder and making her look at him. “But Lorne’s right. We can’t get her to the infirmary. Maybe we can send someone once we get there…”

“I’m not leaving her alone,” Faith objected.

“What if she changes back?” Trevor asked. “She can change back, right?” She had been a woman after all. He didn’t know anything about shapeshifters, hadn’t believed they were real until today, but what could change once should be able to change again, right?

Faith stared at him. Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of that already?! They _could_ carry a human Rachel.

“Rachel, can you hear me? You have to shift back!” Faith said.

Rachel heard the voices of people, but her fuzzy brain didn’t manage to comprehend it all. A few words made it through though. _Change_! Yes, that was it. She had to morph! Taking all her remaining willpower she concentrated and the changes began. The process was slower than before, but one by one her body parts changed from elephant to human and shrank. With the changes Rachel’s mind started to clear and her wounds disappeared.

Faith stared at Rachel as she shifted back. It looked weird and a little disgusting, but soon the blond soldier she had immediately started to get along with lay in front of her, and she didn’t see any wounds.

“Rachel, are you okay?” she asked.

Rachel turned to Faith and grinned. “Perfect,” she stated. Maybe a little tired from the morphing process, but that was nothing new. She had been through worse, and at least she was healed. Morphing really had a lot of advantages, like returning to the state she used to be in before becoming an animal. Wounds she obtained while in morph simply disappeared.

Faith smiled. Wow, that had turned out even better than she had hoped.

“Alright, let’s go to the infirmary,” Lorne said. Faith and one of the men were wounded, and he definitely wanted Berenson to be checked out, too. In addition to that he had a lot of questions for her and was sure his superiors did, too. Someone would have to keep an eye on her while he went after the dinosaurs with Major Finn and the uninjured recruits. As far as he was concerned they were part of the SGP now. They had proven that they could handle this job.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon – recruits team 2:**

“So, how’d you become a Colonel at your age?” Mickey asked, not managing to keep his curiosity inside any longer. “I mean, how old are you? Like 20?” he added. Colonel O’Neill definitely looked younger than he did.

Jack narrowed his eyes and sighed. Of course the question had to come up sooner or later, now that he had his real rank back. When joining the Air Force – again - he had to start fresh, but now that he was part of the Stargate Program again they had given him back the rank of Colonel, which he deserved of course. His body might be that of a younger clone, but his mind and memories were those of Colonel Jack O’Neill, who had been 50 at the time. He had definitely earned that rank. 

“25,” he corrected through gritted teeth. “And that’s classified.”

“Oh come on, we signed the non-disclosure agreement,” Mickey pressed.

“But you don’t know what all this is about, do you?” Jack remarked gesturing around. “And until you do I’m not telling you squad.”

“You know what the Stargate Program is about?” Becker asked.

“Sure,” Jack stated casually. He knew everything. That he even had to take this stupid test was ridiculous. He used to lead SG-1 for crying out loud! But he bet that _General_ O’Neill wanted to annoy him a little. He probably had made sure to stick him with the most incapable recruits of all as well. Three of them weren’t even military and they didn’t look half as smart as Daniel.

“We do, too,” Mickey said gesturing at himself, Martha and Sally.

Martha rolled her eyes, she had the feeling that this was turning into a male pissing contest. 

“How about we just find the artefact and get this over with?” Sally suggested.

“My thoughts exactly,” Martha agreed. She couldn’t wait for this to be over so she wouldn’t have to see Becker anymore. He looked way too hot and her treacherous mind was starting to remember just how amazing he looked without his clothes…

“Good idea,” Jack stated while looking around for the artifact Cam had shown them a picture of. He hoped it wasn’t a real artefact. Daniel would get a fit if anything happened to one of his precious artifacts. 

\----- -----

About twenty minutes later they had eliminated five enemies, some of whom looked like Goa’uld, others like Wraith. Jack noticed that most of his team members didn’t seem surprised about the alien looking holograms. Maybe they really did know about life on other planets and hadn’t just boasted around. He would have to find out more about them at some point.

After rescuing a hostage, Daniel Jackson – who kept grinning at him in an irritating way – they found the artifact. Jack held it in his hands. Mission accomplished: enemy dead, hostage saved, artifact retrieved, no dead civilians. He grinned happily. Then the whole city started to shake as something exploded way to close for Jack’s liking. The next second a blaring alarm started. As if it wasn’t obvious that something was wrong, Jack thought.

“Please tell me this is part of the simulation,” Jack yelled while trying to stay on his feet. His ears were ringing from the explosion.

“I’m afraid not,” Daniel answered while pushing himself up, then quickly tried to contact Sam over his radio. Unfortunately he didn’t get an answer. His radio seemed to be dead, or maybe the ringing in his ears combined with the cities alarm prevented him from hearing anything Sam said. He’d try again later.

“Come on, let’s find a transporter and get to the control room,” Jack called loudly while helping one of the women up. He had a really bad feeling about this. First the SGC was blown up and now something exploded in Atlantis. That couldn’t be a coincidence. He’d bet his left arm that Ba’al had something to do with this.

They had just started to walk when Daniel grabbed Jack’s arm and pointed to the ground. The floor was getting wet. Jack looked around. More and more water was flowing into the room.

“Run!” he yelled. The others complied without questions.

Closing the room’s door behind him Jack followed the others. They were running down a long corridor when more and more water appeared. Apparently closing one door hadn’t helped. Jack just made it through another door after Becker and stopped to close the door behind his team mates when the door closed on its own, in front of Daniel and the others. Jack quickly touched the doors opening panel, but nothing happened. The door stayed closed.

“No, no, no,” he muttered feeling frustrated and hit the panel, but that didn’t help either. Daniel and the two women were locked in.

\---------------------------------------

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	8. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> BTVS: Faith Lehane, Riley Finn  
> Hawaii Five-0: Chin Ho Kelly, Danny Williams, Kono Kalakaua, Lori Weston, Steve McGarrett  
> NCIS LA: G. Callen, Kensy Blye, Marty Deeks, Sam Hanna  
> Primeval: Becker  
> Stargateverse: Daniel Jackson, clone!Jack O'Neill, Laura Cadman, Radek Zelenka, Sam Carter, Vala Mal Doran  
> Whoverse: Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, Sally Sparrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my awesome beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this! :-)

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon – recruits team 2:**

“Can you open the door from your side?” Colonel Jack O’Neill called.

“No,” Daniel answered from the other side of the door. “The opening mechanism isn’t working.”

“Can you override it?” Jack wanted to know.

“Do I look like Sam?” Daniel asked sarcastically.

“Just try, you’ve probably seen Sam do it about a thousand times.”

Daniel snorted. “So have you. Why don’t _you_ try it?” he suggested, but started to take off the door panel’s outer hull anyway. 

“Let Mickey have a look at it. He’s good with computers and technology,” Martha suggested and pushed him forward while trying to ignore the icy water that was almost up to her knees by now.

Daniel immediately stepped aside. “Any ideas?”

Mickey stared at the inside of the panel, narrowing his eyes. “Not really. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he admitted.

Hearing the exchange of the others Becker cursed and hit the wall, then tried to pry the doors open with his hands, but they didn’t move even a tiny bit. This could not be happening! They weren’t even officially part of the Stargate Program, hadn’t even gone on a real mission yet and Martha was already in mortal danger! If they didn’t get them out of there the whole corridor would probably flood and they’d drown.

“Maybe we should try another way,” Sally suggested. Staying in this corridor didn’t seem like a good idea to her.

“I don’t think there is one,” Daniel said. “The door closed on its own, which probably means the cities safety measures have been activated and shut the flooding parts of the city off to keep the rest of it safe.” He sighed, knowing that the Hammond had left already, which meant that they didn’t have beaming technology at the moment. He really had to suggest installing beaming technology in Atlantis, if he made it out of here. No, not if, _when_ … Sam and the others would find a way to save them, he had to believe that!

“Great,” Mickey muttered sarcastically while taking a closer look at the inside of the panel. He had to open that door, but he had no idea how. This technology looked pretty _alien_ to him. “We really could use some help right about now,” Mickey added glancing at Martha. The _alien_ kind of help, he added in thoughts. “You do have your phone with you, right?”

“Sure,” Martha said pulling it out. She never went anywhere without it. 

“I’m pretty sure that whatever is interfering with our radios is interfering with phones, too,” Daniel said. “But feel free to try anyway.” He wasn’t about to die because he was too stupid to try a phone.

Martha smirked slightly. “A simple technical malfunction won’t stop _my_ phone. Unless powerful aliens are blocking all signals this phone works anywhere in time and space, and it never breaks down.” That said she called the Doctor.

Daniel raised an eyebrow at that, but decided that he could find out what exactly she meant later.

“It’s ringing,” Martha informed them. _And ringing_ , she added in thoughts. Could the Doctor never answer his phone right away? Nope, apparently not, she thought cursing slightly as she only got the mail box. 

“Doctor, it’s Martha. We’re in a bit of trouble… the ‘being stuck in a flooding locked place’ kind of trouble,” she said and then quickly stated the date and time. It didn’t really matter when the Doctor heard her message; the important thing was that he knew when to arrive here. Disconnecting the call she looked around, waiting. Unfortunately there was no breeze coming out of nowhere combined with a familiar noise.

“Who did you just call?” Daniel asked, curious after her cryptic message. That sounded like whatever kind of Doctor she called already knew where she was. “No, forget that and give me the phone.” He had to call Sam. If anyone could get them out of here it was her. Questions could wait until later. The water was rising rapidly after all.

Martha didn’t hesitate and handed the phone over. She was sure that the Doctor would come, but occasionally something did go wrong and he arrived at the wrong time and then couldn’t go back because that would mess up timelines. Or if something was a fixed point in time he couldn’t interfere. She wasn’t about to risk all their lives by not handing over her phone.

Daniel let out a sigh of relief when he heard Sam’s voice. 

“Sam, it’s Daniel.”

_“Daniel? Thank god you’re okay. I was worried when we couldn’t reach any of you…”_

“Okay is a little exaggerated,” Daniel said interrupting her. “We’re stuck in a flooding part of the city. Please tell me you already knew that and have a plan to get us out of here.”

_“Well, I knew parts of the city are flooding and that Atlantis shut them off. But I’m working on another problem myself. An ancient device was damaged in the explosion and is… Never mind, you don’t need to know that. I’ll put you through to the control room. I’m sure they are working on getting you out already.”_

Daniel sighed, but knew that whatever Sam was working on right now had to be very important. It didn’t take long and he was talking to Amelia Banks, then Radek Zelenka.

\----- -----

“What do you mean you can’t tell me how to open the damn door?” Daniel asked a bit later.

 _“Of course I could tell you that,” Zelenka answered. “But Atlantis has gone into lockdown for the flooding areas. There is no way to open that door from where you are. I’m sorry.”_

“But you can open it from the control room?”

_“We are working on it.”_

“Great,” Daniel muttered dryly. “Work faster!”

 _“I will get back to you as soon as we found a way to get you out of there, Dr. Jackson,”_ Zelenka promised.

Daniel cursed and disconnected the call. “They are working on it,” he said looking at the others.

That didn’t sound too promising, Martha thought. Where the hell was the Doctor? This couldn’t really be a fixed point in time, could it? She didn’t want to die here. Looking down at the water that was now up to her stomach she shivered slightly.

“We’re not dying here,” she said defiantly and snatched her phone back. There was one more call she could make. There might be certain rules the Doctor couldn’t break, but others sure as hell could.

“Who are you calling now?” Mickey wanted to know.

“An old friend,” Martha said with a smirk. A _very old_ friend.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**A planet somewhere in the universe:**

Captain Jack Harkness sat at a bar, gulping down a drink. Grimacing he placed the glass back down. That really was disgusting.

“What the hell did you put in there?” he asked the barkeeper. Then his phone rang. Startled he rummaged through his coat’s pockets and fished the phone out. He hadn’t used the thing in years, not since he left Earth after the incident with the 456 and the deaths of Ianto and his grandson. He sighed, pushing that thought away as quickly as possible. For a moment he just stared at the phone, wondering if he should pick up. Even after years he still wasn’t really in the mood to go back to Earth, but he knew that there weren’t a lot of people who could call him while he was on another planet, and those people wouldn’t call unless it was important. Without bothering to check who called he picked up.

“Hello?”

_“Jack, thank god! I almost thought you wouldn’t pick up either.”_

“Martha, what’s wrong?” he asked quickly, not liking the tone of her voice.

_“We’re stuck in a flooding locked place and really could use some help getting out of here. Please tell me that vortex manipulator of yours is working.”_

“What about the Doctor?” Jack asked before adding: “Never mind. Where and when?” If the Doctor could help Martha wouldn’t have called him. 

\----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon – recruits team 2:**

Daniel watched Martha as she talked on her phone while trying to ignore Jack O’Neill’s questions from the other side of the locked door. He was really curious about Martha now. It sounded like whoever she spoke to agreed to help, but who could she possibly be talking to that could get them out of here? Not a lot of people could get into Atlantis or even knew of its existence. He was about to ask her what was going on when something weird suddenly appeared in the air a few steps away. It sort of reminded him of a wormhole. Then a man he had never seen before appeared. Wow! Apparently she _did_ know someone who could get into Atlantis.

“Jack,” Martha called grinning happily.

“Ugh, you sure know how to pick a place for a date,” Jack said sarcastically. “What’s with the freezing water?”

Martha snorted. “I’m pretty sure I mentioned being locked in a _flooding_ place,” she said, then stepped forward and hugged him.

Jack grinned as he wrapped his arms around her. All of a sudden being back on Earth didn’t feel like such a bad thing anymore. He hadn’t known how much he missed Martha until he saw her again. Smiling slightly he let go of her.

“Mickey Smith, should have known you’re the one who got her into this mess,” he said jokingly.

Mickey snorted. “Me? It was all _her_ idea,” he said crossing his arms in front of his chest. “And just so you know, you’re not getting a hug from me this time. You enjoy those way too much.”

Jack chuckled. “Maybe I should just leave you here…”

“How about we leave the reunion for later,” Sally stated dryly, her teeth chattering slightly from the cold water.

“My thoughts exactly,” Daniel remarked. “I’m guessing that since you did get in here you can get us out, too?” He had no idea how the man did what he did, but right now he didn’t really care. He just wanted to get out of there. Questions could wait until later.

“Fair enough,” Jack stated. “I’m not too fond of freezing water anyway. And yes, I can get us out of here,” he added looking at the man he didn’t know yet. “So, where to?”

“Just behind that locked door would do,” Martha said and watched Jack press a few buttons on his vortex manipulator.

“Alright, everyone hold on tight,” Jack said holding out his arm.

\----- -----

“What the hell is going on in there?” Colonel Jack O’Neill called banging against the locked door. He heard people talking, but they weren’t answering him. Then he heard footsteps and saw Vala coming towards them. He hadn’t actually met her before, but Daniel had told him enough about her in e-mails that he was sure who the woman was.

Vala stared at O’Neill’s clone, one of his team members and the locked door next to them. When the control room informed her about what was going on she immediately went to the area Daniel’s recruits team was supposed to be in. She knew that parts of the city in that area had started to flood after the explosion and that the recruit teams couldn’t be reached over their radios. She simply had to find out if Daniel was okay. 

“He’s stuck in there, isn’t he?” she asked, then sighed, when O’Neill’s nod confirmed her fears.

“Can you open the door?” Jack asked gesturing at the panel next to it. Vala had been a Goa’uld’s host, which meant that she still had some of its knowledge and might know enough to get the damn door open.

“I can try,” Vala stated while stepping over to the panel. She didn’t really know much about ancient technology, but sometimes it was similar to Goa’uld technology, and she sure as hell wouldn’t give up without even trying to get Daniel out of there. It was _Daniel_ after all. She couldn’t lose him!

Before Vala even had a chance to start working on the panel a group of people suddenly materialized in the corridor next to her. It kind of looked like they were beamed in, but they didn’t have beaming technology right now, did they? Well, who cared how it happened? Daniel was safe and that was all that mattered to her right now.

“Daniel!” she exclaimed, stepped forward and threw herself into his arms.

Daniel was still a little startled from the events of the past minutes and was just starting to realize that he was no longer in a flooding corridor when Vala threw herself at him. “Umpf,” he muttered but his arms quickly went around her, holding her close, without him even consciously planning to do it.

“I’m fine, Vala,” he said while letting go of her.

“Don’t do that again,” she said narrowing her eyes at him while taking a step back.

Daniel snorted slightly. As if he could promise that. With the kind of lives they led they’d probably be in mortal danger again before they even realized it. “I’ll try my best.”

Vala simply smirked.

Jack O’Neill grinned and clapped Daniel on the back. “I guess the Hammond hasn’t left yet after all,” he said.

“It wasn’t the Hammond that beamed us out of there,” Daniel stated. 

“Vortex manipulator,” Jack Harkness offered in explanation and gestured at his wrist.

Becker raised an eyebrow at the conversation. Beaming? Vortex what? Yeah, this really was _classified_ and for the first time he did get the feeling that the ARC might not be the weirdest place you could work for. Then he turned to Martha and looked her over.

“You okay?” he asked, feeling immensely relived that she was no longer in mortal danger.

Martha looked up at Becker surprised. That almost sounded like he cared. Maybe he did… just because he didn’t want a relationship didn’t necessarily mean he wanted her dead, right? 

“I’m fine,” she said. “But how about we get out of here. A change of clothes really would be nice.”

“Agreed,” Daniel said.

“Transporter’s that way,” Vala added and gestured in the direction she had come from.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon – recruits team 3:**

“Why did it have to be him?” Deeks muttered when his team found their fake hostage and rescued him. “If you ask me we’d be better off leaving him with the ‘aliens’.”

Kensi turned to her partner with a glare and playfully hit him in he shoulder.

“Ow,” Deeks exclaimed rubbing his shoulder.

“Don’t be such a whiny baby, and stop talking badly about Danny,” Kensi said, but felt slightly amused. For some reason Deeks just didn’t seem to like Danny, or maybe he was actually jealous? He had been teasing her about the man ever since they first worked together. It wasn’t even like that for her. Yes, she liked Danny, but not really in that way. And besides, even if she did, it was none of Deeks business. They weren’t together after all and she didn’t get all up in his face about women that he met either.

“Oh, so he’s Danny now, not Detective Williams,” Deeks observed not too happily.

“We’re going to be working together now. It’s only natural to become friendly and use first names,” Kensi stated before ducking from fake enemy fire.

Deeks quickly followed her and hid behind a table next to her. “I’m still _Deeks_ ,” he observed silently.

“What did you say?” Kensi asked after firing a round of shots at the hologram aliens.

“Nothing,” Deeks muttered, turned away from her and headed off after the rest of their team and their rescued hostage Danny, while trying not to think about how _friendly_ Kensi and Danny could be getting.

“I can see the artifact,” Callen called. “Keep the holograms busy while I get it.” He just started to make his way towards the artifact when the city started to shake and an explosion could be heard, followed by a blaring alarm.

“What the hell was that?” Deeks called rubbing his ears.

“Sounded like an explosion to me,” Danny stated dryly.

Deeks rolled his eyes. “Smartass.”

Danny was about to reply when Kensi cut him off. “Cut it out, boys. We have bigger problems. I don’t think that was part of the simulations,” she stated looking around for any possible threats.

“It wasn’t,” Danny confirmed looking around as well. “At least not as far as I’ve been told.”

The retort was on Deeks tongue, but Kensi’s look silenced him.

“I can’t reach the control room,” Callen said before walking to the door and peering out of the room. 

Danny frowned and tried his radio, but didn’t get an answer either. “Great,” he muttered. “First day of work and already an explosion, and that even though Steve isn’t even around. I knew I shouldn’t have taken this job.”

Lori smiled slightly. She really had missed Danny and his antics. “He hasn’t changed, I see,” she said glancing at Chin. 

“Not a bit,” Chin agreed.

Sam smirked and clapped Danny on the shoulder. “Come on, man, we’ll get you back to the control room safely.”

“I can take care of myself, you know,” Danny stated glancing up at the SEAL. 

“Of course you can,” Sam said as they started to walk.

“Anyone got any real weapons?” Callen asked, ignoring Danny and Sam’s banter. There was an explosion and he knew that there had been a bombing at Stargate Command. He really didn’t think that was a coincidence. 

Danny pulled his gun. Sheppard had remarked at breakfast that it was never a good idea to walk around Atlantis unarmed, even when you were off duty. Apparently he hadn’t been kidding. “I do,” he answered. 

“Okay,” Callen muttered when no one else spoke. One gun was better than none. “Williams, you go first, unless you want to hand over that gun…”

“Not a chance,” Danny stated and went to the door. After peering out he started to walk down the corridor, gun at the ready.

Callen followed the detective and gestured for Sam to take the rear.

They didn’t even make it to the first corner before a bright greenish light stopped them. 

“What…” Kensi started, shielding her eyes with her hand. Before she got to finish the question something hit Callen, then Chin and Deeks. All three men went down at once. “Deeks!” she exclaimed, worried about her partner the most.

“Take cover!” Sam called and pushed Lori down just in time. A shot soared above their heads, hitting the wall.

As the bright light disappeared Lori saw the shooters for the first time. They had greenish skin and long hair. Her eyes widened. They looked like some of the holograms they had taken out before.

“Wraith!” Danny called and started shooting. What the hell were Wraith doing in Atlantis? They had been mentioned in his debriefing this morning, but he thought they were in another galaxy, which was why he hadn’t paid too much attention to how to kill them. Bullets apparently didn’t seem to work as well on them as on humans. At least he managed to make them drop their weapons when shooting at their hands. That didn’t stop them though. They were bleeding heavily, but still advanced when he ran out of bullets. Before he managed to reload a Wraith reached him and knocked him against the wall hard. He tried to fight it off but even injured the Wraith was incredibly strong. Just as the Wraith was about to slam its hand down on Danny’s chest it was pulled away by Sam, who immediately started to fight it. Lori and Kensi were trying to fight off the other two Wraith and keep them away from Chin, Callen and Deeks, who hopefully were just unconscious.

Danny reloaded his gun quickly, but had a hard time finding a target to shoot, fearing he might hit his friends. Cursing he put his gun down and rushed over to help the women. Sam was a SEAL after all. He’d be fine.

\----- -----

Steve rushed down a corridor towards recruit team 3’s last known location with Kono and Cadman right behind him. He knew that his team members as well as Sam Hanna and his team could take care of themselves, but they had no real weapons and apparently there were Wraith near their location. Steve had no idea how they got in, or how _dinosaurs_ could be in other parts of the city, but right now all that mattered was keeping his people alive.

Turning around a corner Steve’s eyes widened. Towards the end of the corridor Sam was fighting a Wraith by himself. Danny and Lori were fighting another. Next to them a third Wraith hit Kensi, sending her crashing into the wall as if she was nothing more than a fly. She had barely hit the floor when the Wraith loomed over her. Unfortunately Sam was in his line of fire or Steve could have taken the damn Wraith down. Luckily Danny had a clear shot, but he ran out of bullets before the Wraith was dead and had to start fighting it with his bare hands.

“Kono, help Sam,” Steve decided, while trying not to get distracted by Chin and the others who were on the ground. They probably were just unconscious, not dead. Wraith couldn’t feed on the dead, so they wouldn’t kill them, right? “Cadman, help Danny.” That said he brushed past Sam, just as a Wraith hit Lori, then pushed her against the wall hard. 

Steve ignored the panic that rushed through him and tried not to think of the images he had seen of Wraith victims. He really, _really_ didn’t want to imagine Lori like that! Ignoring the urge to shoot the Wraith Steve jumped and pulled the Wraith away from Lori just as it slammed its hand down on her chest. Shooting wouldn’t have done any good. The Wraith would have healed itself by sucking the life out of Lori.

Lori sighed in relief when the Wraith was pulled away from her. That thing was incredibly strong! Pushing off the wall she turned to her left where Steve was now fighting the Wraith. A small smile appeared on her face. Of course Steve had come. He’d never let anything happen to her or the rest of the team. However, her smile disappeared just as quickly as it had come, when the Wraith hit Steve.

While trying to catch her breath Lori noticed a gun on the ground. Steve must have dropped it while pulling the Wraith off her. She quickly picked it up, then tried to get a shot in. Unfortunately Steve and the Wraith were moving too fast and were too close together.

“Steve, get down,” she called. Steve kicked the Wraith in the chest, then complied. As soon as he hit the ground Lori started shooting.

When the Wraith fell Steve quickly moved out of the way, then heard more gunfire. Getting up he glanced around. All Wraith were on the ground now, covered in blood.

“They dead?” Danny asked panting heavily.

Sam kicked the Wraith closest to him. It didn’t move. Neither did the one Cadman kicked. Steve checked the last one. Luckily it didn’t move either.

“Looks like it,” Steve said, then turned to Lori. “You okay?” he asked looking at her concerned. She seemed a little beaten up, but compared to what could have happened he guessed it wasn’t so bad.

“I’m fine, you?” Lori answered and tried not to read too much into the fact that Steve seemed most concerned about her. It was hard though with the way he looked at her.

“Fine,” Steve answered.

“I’m good, too,” Danny stated. “Thanks for asking.”

Steve chuckled slightly and clapped his friend on the back before walking over to Chin. Kneeling down he checked for a pulse.

“They are alive,” Kensi said next to Steve while checking on Deeks and Callen.

Kono sighed in relief. “We should get them to the infirmary.”

“That’ll be fun,” Danny muttered. “I’m guessing we can’t just call an ambulance, can we?”

* * *

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	9. Time Travel & Alternate Realities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> Army Wives: Michael Holden  
> BTVS: Willow Rosenberg  
> NCIS LA: Eric Beale, Hetty Lange, Nell Jones  
> Stargateverse: Amelia Banks, Aiden Ford, Cameron Mitchell, Chuck, John Sheppard, Radek Zelenka, Sam Carter  
> Supernatural: Bobby Singer, Castiel, Crowley, Dean Winchester, Raphael, Sam Winchester

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to my beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this chapter. :-)

**Day 4 – Atlantis – control room – afternoon:**

General Michael Holden watched Colonel Carter rush out of the control room. For her to leave without telling them what had happened things had to be bad. Well, there had been an explosion, which usually wasn’t a good sign. So much for having an uneventful day to ease into things. He had been watching an introduction video with Eric Beale, Nell Jones and Henrietta Lange when the explosion occurred. So far they hadn’t even been told what their exact duties would be, but he guessed that would have to wait.

“What’s the situation?” Hetty asked.

Michael looked down at her, once more feeling slightly startled that he was actually in the same room as the famous _Hetty_. Up until today he had thought she was just a myth, but he had thought the same about Atlantis, and he definitely hadn’t believed in aliens or magic, which apparently were real, too. He took a deep breath and pushed away those thoughts. He could be stunned later, now they had a crisis situation to manage. That at least was nothing new to him.

“The explosion was caused by a Goa’uld,” Radek Zelenka said. “She was captured and is being taken to the holding cells as we speak. The explosion has caused parts of the city to flood. Safety protocols have been initiated and the flooding parts of the city are shut off. One of the recruit teams was near the explosion and might be in a flooding area. In addition to that we are picking up strange energy readings coming from a part of Atlantis that is near the explosion site, which might be the cause for our problems in reaching the recruit teams via our radios or use cameras in certain areas. Right before the cameras stopped working Wraith and dinosaurs have been spotted near the recruit teams.”

Hetty took a deep breath. They really had chosen one hell of a day to start working for the Stargate Program. At least she now knew why Jack had recruited her and hadn’t minded her wanting to bring in her people. They obviously had big problems and could use the help. For a moment she wondered where Jack was, but pushed away the thought. They didn’t have time to wait for him. Actions had to be taken now.

“General Holden, I believe it would be best if each of us focused on parts of the problem,” she said.

Michael nodded. “My thoughts exactly. I will concentrate on getting Search and Rescue teams to the recruits and deal with our unwanted alien and prehistoric ‘guests’.”

“I can help with that,” Zelenka offered. Maybe he could get the communication system back online so they could reach the recruits. Knowing where they were surely would help.

“Me, too,” Nell and Eric said at the same time.

“Colonel Carter and Miss Rosenberg are on their way to find out what is causing the energy readings,” Amelia Banks said.

Hetty nodded. “I suppose that leaves me to address the city and inform everyone about our current situation. Then we need to find out if there are any other Goa’uld with explosives in the city. I need to have a word with this Goa’uld.” 

“I will take you to the holding cells, Ma’am,” Lieutenant Miller offered.

“Good,” Hetty answered with a nod, before turning back to the technicians. 

“We’re ready. You can address the city now,” Amelia said.

\----- ----- 

After Hetty’s speech military personnel started to report in as requested. With the help of the technicians on duty Michael started to coordinate them into teams and assign them parts of the city to inspect. 

“We can locate life signs with this, right?” Eric asked while familiarizing himself with the systems. 

“Yes, but the system isn’t working properly near the explosion site,” Zelenka answered.

“But it is working in other areas. We can use it to detect when someone or _something_ comes out of the area we can’t access right now,” Eric clarified.

“You mean if Wraith or dinosaurs come into inhabited parts of the city,” Michael added.

“Exactly,” Eric stated.

“Looks like the system can differentiate between life signs. Maybe we can get it to show us which are human, which wraith and which animals, and the size of the animals as well,” Nell added.

“Good, figure it out,” Michael said.

“I have Dr. Jackson on the line,” Amelia called suddenly, then sighed. “He is with one of the recruits teams and they are stuck in a flooding part of the city. He wants to know how to open the door.”

“Let me talk to him,” Zelenka said.

“Find out where they are,” Michael instructed, and then listened to the conversation. Apparently it wasn’t possible to open the door. He sighed. 

“If the city won’t let us open that door we need to find another way,” Michael said turning to the rest of the people in the control room. “I need suggestions.”

“We do have beaming technology, don’t we?” Eric asked.

“All ships with beaming technology are on missions right now,” Chuck said before getting back to coordinating Search and Rescue.

“Great,” Nell muttered. “And Atlantis doesn’t have beaming technology?”

“No, the city was built by the Ancients; the beaming technology we use comes from the Asgard. They helped us install it in our ships in this galaxy. Atlantis was in Pegasus at the time.”

“I thought Atlantis has been on Earth for years now. Those Asgards didn’t have time to…”

“They are dead.”

“Oh,” Nell muttered silently. 

“Back to the problem at hand,” Michael said. Thinking about dead people wouldn’t help. They needed to make sure that there wouldn’t be more deaths. “Can we use explosives or other weapons to open that door?”

“Not without causing more flooding,” Zelenka answered.

“How big is the hole the explosion caused? Could a jumper get in from the outside?” Amelia wondered out loud. 

“If it’s not big enough, we’ll just have to make it bigger,” Michael said. That part of the city was lost anyway. As far as he was concerned he’d blast that part off to get to their people, if it was possible without risking the rest of the city.

“I’ll talk to Dr. Jackson,” Zelenka said.

At that moment a map of the city showed up on a big screen showing blue, red and yellow dots.

“We finished calibrating the life signs,” Eric started, but before he could say more Zelenka interrupted him.

“They already made it out of the flooding area.”

“What, how?” Amelia asked while others started to cheer.

Before Zelenka had time to ask Dr. Jackson anything a screen in the control room came to life, showing a warning. 

“What is it this time?” Michael asked with a frown.

Zelenka quickly took some readings, then cursed in Czech. “We have a problem.”

“What?” Nell asked stepping over to him. “We are picking up more strange energy readings?” she asked.

“Yes, and I have seen similar readings before… when we had encounters with alternate realities.”

“ _Alternate realities_?” Michael asked, staring at the scientist. “Okay… what do we do about it?” he asked, wondering why he didn’t even feel surprised anymore. He guessed after hearing that Atlantis, aliens and the supernatural were real, being faced with an explosion, a flooding city, alien intruders and dinosaurs, which might suggest _time travel_ , he simply was all out of surprise or shock for the day.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon:**

After picking up her laptop Sam ran some diagnostics on it while leading Willow to a transporter that would take them as close to the source of the energy readings as they could get.

“According to these readings the energy that is being emitted doesn’t seem to be dangerous. We should be fine without protective suits,” Sam said. 

“Should be?” Willow asked while entering the transporter.

“Well, nothing is for certain considering alien technology is probably involved,” Sam answered. It was possible that the programs she had run so far simply couldn’t pick up any danger because they weren’t calibrated for that kind of danger. “But by my estimation the risk of delaying to get protective gear that might not be useful against alien technology either is far greater than the chance of this energy actually being harmful in itself.”

“Okay,” Willow said. “But a protection spell won’t hurt.” That said she started summoning power. Then she gasped and had to steady herself against the wall.

“Willow?” Sam asked stepping towards her, just as the transporter door opened. “What is it?” Instead of answering her Willow looked up and a breeze suddenly showed up out of nowhere, making Willow’s hair fly behind her. Then her eyes started to glow. Sam stared at her surprised and a little awed as well. The next second Willow turned to Sam and just as quickly as she had started to look all wicked she turned back to the way she was before.

“The walls between worlds are weakening.”

“What?” Sam asked startled.

“Realities are starting to bleed into each other. I… I have to stop it,” Willow said and rushed out of the transporter.

Sam quickly followed. “How?” she asked, not sure what else to say. Her mind was racing.

“I don’t know. All I know is that I can feel it happening, and that I have to stop it. If this keeps going realities will merge and become one. The consequences would be devastating.”

Sam nodded. She wasn’t sure how this could be happening, but realities merging definitely wouldn’t be a good idea. Unless they were extremely lucky and whatever reality this one merged with – assuming that it was only one - was completely ‘empty’ things would try to occupy the same space, which she was fairly certain would have disastrous results.

“Let’s go.” That said Sam turned left and started to walk.

“You’re going the wrong way,” Willow said.

“The source of the energy readings is that way,” Sam replied gesturing left.

“And the source of whatever is weakening the walls is this way,” Willow stated pointing to the right.

“So it has nothing to do with the source of the energy irregularities we’re picking up?”

“I don’t know,” Willow admitted. “Maybe it’s connected, maybe not. We’re going to have to split up.”

Sam sighed, not liking this, but she knew they didn’t have a choice. “Good luck, and be careful.”

Willow smiled. “You, too.” Then she turned around and ran off.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon:**

“Understood,” John Sheppard said while leading Cameron Mitchell to the nearest transporter. Following the explosion and Hetty Lange’s announcement over the cities communication system he had contacted the control room and reported himself and Cam in. Amelia then told them to go check in on one of the recruit teams and where to find them.

 _“And be careful, the dangerous animals Agent Lange mentioned are dinosaurs,”_ Amelia warned over the radio.

“Seriously?”

 _“Yeah,”_ Amelia confirmed before going silent.

“Crap,” John muttered. “I hate time travel!”

“What?” Cam asked.

“Time travel… I _hate_ it!” John repeated while stepping into the transporter. At least this time it wasn’t him who was stuck in another time.

Cam raised an eyebrow, wondering why John brought that up now.

“We have dinosaurs in the city, which means there is time travel involved,” John clarified.

“We have _dinosaurs_ in the city?” Cam asked surprised, then slightly shook his head. “One of these days there will be nothing left that can surprise me anymore,” he added.

John snorted slightly. “That would be boring, wouldn’t it?”

Cam smirked, then the transporter door opened and they stepped out next to the armory.

“Let’s get something big enough to take out a dinosaur,” John announced.

\----- -----

As soon as they felt properly armed they left the armory and took the next transporter that brought them to the area the recruits’ tests were held in.

John hurried out of the transporter, then stopped when a bright greenish light appeared.

“What the hell?” Cam muttered. “Agent Lange didn’t mention any weird lights, did she?”

“Nope, neither did Amelia,” John answered.

“It came from the balconies,” Cam said after the light had started to fade.

“Let’s check it out,” John decided.

As soon as they stepped outside they saw a Wraith pressing a man to the railing. Cam was about to start shooting, but John stopped him before rushing forward and pulling the Wraith off the man. Then he started shooting while stepping away from the Wraith. Cam joined in quickly. The Wraith roared in rage, made a few steps towards them, but dropped to the ground dead before managing to reach them.

“That was just in time. Thanks, Major.”

John turned around quickly when he recognized the rather familiar voice and stared at the man in front of him.

“Ford?”

Lieutenant Aiden Ford smiled slightly before taking a deep breath. That had been close. He didn’t think that he would have been able to hold the Wraith off much longer. All he had left was a knife after all.

“What… how?” John stammered, then sucked in a breath. “ _Time travel_.”

“What?” Ford and Cam asked at the same time.

John didn’t get a chance to answer as a high pitched scream echoed through the city. He frowned. Nothing human could make a sound like that. 

“Let’s go,” he said while handing Ford one of his weapons. “And it’s Colonel by the way. Welcome in 2012. It’s good to have you back.”

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Another reality:**

Dean Winchester hit the ground hard, causing pain to rush through his body. Groaning he ignored the pain and pushed himself up slightly, then watched in horror as Crowley spoke the ritual to open the doorway to purgatory. His mind was reeling, but he just didn’t manage to come up with a plan of how to stop Crowley and Raphael. All he could do was wait and watch. Then Crowley finished… and nothing happened. Dean couldn’t believe it. Had something gone wrong? They couldn’t be that lucky, could they? They _never_ were.

“Maybe I said it wrong,” Dean heard Crowley say, just before the scenery changed. Dean blinked in surprise, then noticed Sam a few feet away. Behind him stood Castiel. Bobby was there, too. Crowley and Raphael however were nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?” Bobby asked.

“I tricked them,” Castiel answered. “And did the ritual myself.”

Dean stared at the man – angel – he had considered to be his best friend… his family. Part of him still couldn’t believe that Castiel would work with Crowley, try to get more powerful by stealing souls or that he would actually open a doorway to purgatory. It was simply _insane_. Up until now he still had had hope that Cas would come around in the end.

“And it worked?” Bobby asked, sounding as if he wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to hear the answer.

“Kind of,” Castiel said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Dean snapped, then sighed and tried to get a grip on his temper. If it did work Castiel would be even more powerful than he already was. Pissing him off probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

“I opened the doorway and started consuming souls… then something went wrong,” Castiel answered.

“Something went wrong?” Dean asked, sounding incredulous. _Of course something went wrong. You opened freaking purgatory_ , he added in thoughts. ‘I told you so’ was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it. Now was not the time for that.

“Yes, it is why I brought you here,” Castiel answered.

“What happened?” Sam asked, sounding strained. 

Dean glanced at his brother, feeling concerned. He looked like hell, but he guessed it was to be expected if you started to remember _being_ in hell. That Sam was even conscious was a miracle. He had been out cold when Dean and Bobby left to try and stop Cas and Crowley.

“I am not sure. I think opening a way to purgatory affected other… doorways,” Castiel explained. “The walls between realms are weakening.”

“And that means?” Bobby asked.

“Worlds are colliding. Unless the doorway to purgatory is closed the world we know may cease to exist.”

 _Fantastic_ , Dean thought sarcastically. Of course something like that had to happen! “Then what the hell are you waiting for? Close the damn door,” Dean almost shouted.

“I… can’t. I am doing everything I can to keep the worlds from merging,” Castiel said through gritted teeth, and for the first time Dean noticed that the angel looked almost as terrible as Sam. 

“What can we do to help?” Sam asked. Dean had to give it to his brother, no matter how horrible he felt, he was still able to focus on what was important. He was definitely better at it than Dean himself. His first instinct right now was to yell at Castiel, but, like Sam had obviously already realized, what good would that do?

“There’s a ritual to close…” Castiel started, then groaned and sank down to his knees.

“What ritual?” Bobby asked desperately. “You have to tell us.”

“It’s…” Castiel started, then froze. 

Dean stared at Cas, narrowing his eyes as he saw emotions rushing across the angel’s face. First it looked like exhaustion and defeat, then surprise, followed by… hope? However just as quickly as hope flickered across Castiel’s face it disappeared again and was replaced by what Dean could only assume represented regret.

“There is someone that can help,” Castiel said. “But not from this end. I have to go… This is the last time we meet.” He sighed, looking down sadly, then turned slightly to face Dean. “I am sorry… about everything.”

Before Dean could say anything a bright greenish light appeared out of nowhere, enveloping the whole room. Dean quickly shielded his eyes.

“What the hell, Cas?” he asked. A second later the light vanished. Dean blinked several times, then looked around. They were once more in a different place, a weird looking one.

“Where are we?” Bobby asked.

Castiel’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to… You weren’t supposed to come with me.”

“What? Why?” Dean asked just before a redheaded woman rushed past him and towards Castiel.

“We have to close it,” she stated. 

“I have to send them back first,” Castiel objected.

“We don’t have time,” the redhead insisted. “They are escaping.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Dean asked feeling confused, frustrated and annoyed. “And who the hell are you anyway?”

The redhead turned to him, looking exasperated. “That’s not important right now. Souls are escaping from purgatory as we speak. We have to hurry. So, if you don’t mind… shut the hell up.” She looked almost apologetic as she said it, then turned to Castiel, took his hands and in a matter of seconds they both started to glow, becoming brighter and brighter until Dean had to shield his eyes once more.

Dean wasn’t sure how long it took until the light finally faded. He blinked several times, trying to adjust his eyes. The first thing he noticed once he could see again were the redhead and Castiel falling to the ground. Castiel looked utterly exhausted. The woman seemed to smile.

“I’m sorry,” Castiel said silently, his voice sounding hoarse. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry about what?” Dean asked. He had a suspicion that Cas wasn’t just talking about opening purgatory even though Dean practically begged him not to.

Before Castiel could answer the redhead spoke in a dazed voice: “That was nifty.”

* * *

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


	10. Supernatural

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
> 
> BTVS: Willow Rosenberg  
> Supernatural: Bobby Singer, Castiel, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester  
> Veronica Mars: Veronica Mars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my awesome beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this chapter. :-)

**Alternate Reality:**

Veronica Mars cursed and stopped at the side of the road. The damn rental car’s navigation system had stopped working again, and she really had no idea where the hell she was. She had been on her way to interview a witness in her new case, but must have taken a wrong turn. There was absolutely nothing out here, not even the backwater town she was looking for. Pulling out her mobile Veronica tried to call Mac, who she was sure would be able to find out where she was online. After all, her friend probably could hack satellites to find Veronica if she was so inclined. Unfortunately there was no cell service. Veronica groaned. She really was in the middle of nowhere! Her boss was so going to pay for sending her out here. Just because he was a senior agent didn’t mean he could do whatever the hell he wanted. He might be senior, but he wasn’t half the investigator she was. Her record was proof of that, and once she was done with her boss, he’d know it, too. Veronica started making plans of how to get back at him without it being traced back to her, but soon pushed that thought away. She had a witness to find after all. There would be time for payback later.

Okay, she thought. She’d just keep driving. The road had to lead to somewhere, right?

After driving for about 5 minutes Veronica spotted a cottage not far from the road. Turning off the main road she drove up to it. Maybe whoever lived there could give her directions. Stopping in front of the building Veronica narrowed her eyes. It looked abandoned and a little creepy. Great, with her luck there was probably absolutely no one around. Or maybe she’d run into a serial killer. That would fit. Sighing Veronica glanced at her mobile. Still no service. 

“Looks like I’m doing this,” she mumbled, grabbed her purse with her gun and FBI badge and got out of the car. Then the cottage was suddenly illuminated by a greenish light. Apparently there was someone here after all, she thought while shielding her eyes from the light.

When the light finally faded Veronica blinked, then froze.

“What the hell?” she exclaimed looking around surprised. She was no longer next to the cottage, the rental was gone, and she wasn’t even outside anymore. She was in some kind of weird looking corridor. How the hell had she gotten here? Had she been knocked out and dragged in here? But why was she standing then? This made absolutely no sense.

Pulling her gun Veronica looked around uneasily. Something very strange was going on, but she’d get to the bottom of it, just like she always did.

\----- ----- ----- ----- -----

**Day 4 – Atlantis – afternoon:**

Dean raised an eyebrow at the redhead. She was weird. He still had no idea who she was, but for the moment finding out who she was wasn’t at the top of his list of priorities. Ignoring her for now he looked at Castiel.

“What exactly are you sorry for, where are we, and what the hell just happened?” he asked.

“We closed the doorway to purgatory,” Castiel answered while pushing himself up into a sitting position. “And in addition stopped realities from merging.”

“That’s good… right?” Dean asked.

Cas nodded, but didn’t look up, feeling unable to meet his friends’ eyes. He had failed miserably. Dean, Sam and Bobby had been right. Working with the king of hell and opening purgatory was a really bad idea. What had he been thinking? Of course it was a bad idea, he always knew that. He just felt that the ends justified the means. He had to stop Raphael and keep him from starting the apocalypse all over again. Dean and especially Sam had sacrificed too much; he couldn’t let it have been for nothing. Still, he should have known better than to pursue a plan that involved opening purgatory! And even more importantly he should have listened to his friends. 

“Then what are you sorry for?” Bobby wanted to know.

“I couldn’t close purgatory on my own. I needed help, but I didn’t find it in our reality in time. Through the opening of doorways I could feel Willow…” Castiel gestured at the redhead who was pushing herself up into a sitting position now. “She was trying to keep realities from merging as well, but wasn’t strong enough on her own either. Since it was all my fault I thought it was only fair that I went to her so we could join forces…” He stopped talking and sighed.

“So, what you’re saying is that we’re no longer in our reality?” Sam asked staring at Castiel. “And that since you closed the doorways we can’t go home?”

“No, that is not what he’s saying,” Dean objected. Sam and Bobby glanced at him with pity in their eyes, as if to say ‘it’s _exactly_ what he’s saying!’ Dean frowned. “Tell them, Cas!”

Castiel finally looked up. “I am sorry, Dean.”

Dean stared at him. “So what, we’re stuck here, wherever here is? No…” he muttered shaking his head. “I call bullshit. There has to be something you can do. You’re a freaking angel. You opened purgatory and ate who knows how many souls to make you even stronger! And now you’re trying to tell me you can’t get us home?”

Castiel looked down again. “I’m sorry, Dean, I can’t…”

“Of course you can!” Dean objected quickly.

“What would you have him do? Open another doorway that allows realties to collide again? You do know what that would mean, don’t you? It could destroy _everything_ , in every reality affected!” Willow said while getting up. Then she held her hand out to Castiel and helped him up before turning to face the other men. “I am sorry that you are stuck here, but until we find a safe way to try and send you from one reality to another you aren’t going anywhere. Your friend here already caused enough damage. A lot of creatures escaped from purgatory and I think most are in this world. The last thing we need right now is _another_ apocalypse.”

Dean, Sam and Bobby groaned when she said the word apocalypse. 

“Willow is right. We cannot go home right now, and even if it was possible, I can’t leave while the escaped souls from purgatory roam this world. I let them escape, I have to stop them,” Castiel said. It was his fault that they escaped, his fault that this world was in danger. He needed to take responsibility and try to make up for what he did. It was the least he could do. He looked at Bobby, then Sam and last at Dean. “I have to go find them. Stay with Willow, you can trust her.” 

“What?” Dean asked startled. He was supposed to trust some crazy chick that he suspected was a witch or some sort of supernatural creature, and that based on the word of an angel who worked with the king of hell and opened purgatory? Yeah, right… However, before he could say anything else Castiel vanished.

“Cas!” Dean roared. He felt like stomping his foot and yelling for Castiel to come back and at least talk to them after the mess he caused, but was distracted when Sam groaned, held his head and fell to his knees.

“Sam!” he called and quickly knelt down beside his brother. With everything that had happened he had momentarily forgotten that his brother had started remembering hell not too long ago. “Sam, talk to me, what can we do to help?”

“What is wrong with him?” Willow asked, kneeling down as well.

“None of your damn business,” Dean snapped.

“I might be able to help.”

“We don’t need your kind of help,” Dean stated bitterly, then he heard another voice.

“Freeze, FBI!”

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” Dean grumbled while turning slightly to see a blonde standing a few feet away, gun pointed at them.

\----- ----- 

Veronica Mars had walked through the weird building she suddenly found herself in until she came upon a group of people, and just like that her luck went from bad to worse. She probably shouldn’t have joked about running into a serial killer earlier. She should have known that with her luck it would actually happen. And she wasn’t just faced with one, but two serial killers, and two of the most famous ones within the FBI on top of it. Sam and Dean Winchester had made quite the name for themselves over the past years, and as if killing several people wasn’t enough, on top of that they were legendary for mysteriously escaping custody whenever they were caught. Their case was one hell of a mystery in itself as well. Veronica had read their entire file during her time as an intern. Sorting through files had been her first and most boring duty at the FBI, but she had decided to use that to her advantage and had started to get familiar with all open cases, in case she might be able to solve them. She had done just that with several of them. The Winchester case however was still wide open and the mysterious killers at large… until now. Veronica would be damned if she let them slip away again. They might be good at escaping, but they hadn’t met her yet. Maybe her luck hadn’t taken a turn for the worse after all. If she could take these two in it could be a career maker.

“Don’t even think about trying anything stupid. If I have to I will shoot you, and I’m pretty sure I’d even get a medal for it,” she warned.

Dean groaned. Of course a rookie FBI agent had to find them now and make an already sucky situation even worse. As if they didn’t have enough problems right now.

“Look, I know you think you know who we are, but trust me, you have absolutely no idea,” he said while getting to his feet and holding his hands up slightly. Then he looked the FBI agent up and down, trying to judge how much of a threat she actually was. He had to admit that she was pretty hot, even for an annoying FBI agent.

Veronica snorted. “Trust you? Yeah, right. I don’t trust anybody on the best of days; I’m not going to start with a serial killer.”

Dean sighed, then glanced at Willow who was standing next to him. Right now some of her hocus-pocus might be a good idea.

Willow smirked slightly when she saw the look on Dean’s face. “So now you _do_ want my help?” she asked silently. “How about you explain first why an FBI agent thinks you’re a serial killer.” Castiel might have said that his friends could trust her, but he never said she could trust them. Besides, all she knew was that Castiel was an angel from another reality and had helped her save the world, which he apparently endangered in the first place. Yes, she had felt that he was a good person when they worked together, but did she completely trust him? She wasn’t sure. So, why should she trust his friends who she knew even less?

“Because he is,” Veronica interrupted. “They both are,” she added gesturing at Dean and Sam.

“No we’re not,” Sam said while finally standing up as well and trying very hard to push away his memories of hell.

“It’s all a big misunderstanding,” Dean added. “A very inconvenient one, which I am rather tired of.” They didn’t kill people, they saved them, they even saved the whole damn world and Sam paid the price for it by going to hell. They stopped the freaking apocalypse and in the public eye they were still enemy number one and two. 

“If it really is just a big misunderstanding why don’t you come with me, face a trial and we’ll see…?”

Dean snorted. Right… if they started explaining things they’d end up in the loony bin, and that would be the best case scenario. If they were locked up in a cell chances were someone or better some _thing_ found and killed them before a trial could even start.

“How about we all calm down and talk about this?” Bobby suggested, interrupting the agent. They didn’t have to wait for a trial and convince a jury, all they had to do was convince one FBI agent right now. 

“Shut up… all of you,” Dean exclaimed.

“No need to get all pissy,” Bobby grumbled.

“I mean it… shut up,” Dean said again looking around.

“What is it?” Sam asked. He could tell by the look on Dean’s face that this wasn’t about Dean being in a bad mood, though he probably was. His brother must have heard something.

“I don’t know,” Dean admitted. “But there’s something…”

Willow looked around and tried to expand her senses. A lot of creatures had escaped from purgatory after all. They could be anywhere in this world, including just around the corner. There was something nearby, she could feel it, but she couldn’t pinpoint its location. Closing the doorway to purgatory had taken a lot out of her. Using magic was harder than usually.

“You really think I am going to fall for this?” Veronica asked with a snort just before something rushed towards Dean, Sam and the others. It was moving too fast for Veronica to comprehend what was going on until she heard a scream.

“Bobby!” Sam called as something jumped on the older hunter. Then it was pulled away by Dean. The next second shots erupted.

“What the hell was that?” Veronica shouted as the _creature_ – it definitely didn’t look human – disappeared from her view. “And where did it go?” she wanted to know while reloading her gun quickly and glancing around.

“Wendigo,” Dean answered looking around frantically. Then he spotted it as it rushed towards the FBI agent. Not even hesitating for a second Dean rushed forward.

Still looking for the creature Veronica noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning she saw Dean coming towards her. Her eyes widened. How could she have been stupid enough to take her eyes off him and Sam? They were killers! She pulled her gun up, but Dean tackled her before she could shoot. 

The Wendigo jumped just as Dean pushed the blonde out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough. Pain exploded through his back as sharp claws crazed him while he and the women started to fall. Repressing a scream Dean landed on top of the FBI agent.

Veronica groaned as she hit the ground hard. Then she quickly pushed at Dean while trying to fight off the panic that threatened to consume her. She was _not_ going to end up as the victim of a serial killer!

Willow sucked in a breath as the Wendigo sunk its claws into Dean’s back. Summoning as much magic as she could manage she telekinetically pulled the Wendigo off him and threw it into the wall as hard as she could. It landed on the ground with a thudding noise, looking dazed.

“Get off me,” Veronica yelled while pushing Dean off and scrambling out from under him. Then she quickly grabbed the gun she had dropped when he tackled her and pointed it at him, breathing hard. “Don’t even think about it!”

“Seriously?” Dean asked with a wince. His back felt like it was on fire. “I just saved your fucking life!” he almost yelled.

“How about you point the gun at that,” Willow called pointing at the Wendigo. “Or even better, shoot it.”

“Wendigos can’t be killed with a gun,” Sam pointed out. 

Willow turned to him. “How _can_ they be killed?”

“Fire,” Dean answered, just as the Wendigo started to stir.

Fire… Of course it couldn’t be something simple. Willow didn’t think they’d have much luck with a pocket lighter, not that she had one with her anyway. If she just didn’t feel so drained; summoning a fireball wasn’t that hard, under normal circumstances. 

Veronica briefly glanced to the weird creature, then back at Dean, who was slightly slumped forward, looking as if he was… in pain? He said he saved her life. Had that creature attacked without her realizing it? And what the hell was it? The others called it a _Wendigo_ , but she had never heard that word before, neither had she ever seen something like that _thing_. It was taller than a human, very thin, had pale greenish skin, disfigured features and long claws. It looked like a monster out of nightmares… and it was getting up.

The Wendigo roared angrily while getting to its feet. It was now or never, Willow thought and summoned the last of her strength. A tiny fireball appeared in her hand. She would have laughed about its size if she hadn’t felt so exhausted. The Wendigo jumped and Willow threw the fireball, hitting it in the chest. She faintly noticed that it immediately caught fire and went ablaze in a matter of seconds. She smiled slightly, then collapsed.

“Nice,” Dean exclaimed as the Wendigo went down. Then he turned to look at the witch, who might be more useful than he had anticipated. Not that he trusted her, but for the moment she was an ally at least. As he looked up Willow collapsed. Luckily Sam caught her just in time. Dean didn’t think he would have been fast enough himself. His back still felt like it was on fire. “She gonna be okay?” he asked.

“I think so,” Sam answered while putting her down on the ground. “Her breathing is steady. Probably just exhausted. What about Bobby?”

Dean’s eyes widened. Right, Bobby! The Wendigo had taken him down earlier. He quickly turned around, ignoring the pain in his back, and checked on the older hunter. He was out cold and had a few claw marks, but nothing too serious as far as Dean could tell.

“Still breathing,” Dean said.

Veronica felt like everything around her was moving in slow motion. She guessed her brain was having difficulties absorbing what she just witnessed. First she appeared in a completely different place without any indication of what happened, then she ran into serial killers just before a weird monster-like creature attacked. And to top it all off a young woman had thrown some kind of fireball at the creature which burned it to death. Yeah, she really wasn’t surprised that even _her_ brain was having difficulties coming to terms with that. Still, she couldn’t just bury her head in the sand – metaphorically speaking of course, since there was no sand wherever the hell she was – and wait for better times. In her experience one could wait lifetimes for better times and still be disappointed. Cynical? Maybe, but cynical she could handle, while freaking out about supernatural events was not an option. She was an FBI agent after all, and even more importantly, she was Veronica Mars! She did not freak out! She dealt with whatever was thrown at her, no matter what it was, and she always came out on top. Defeat was _not_ an option. She didn’t even know the word! Alright, first things first… threat assessment. Nothing was attacking her right now. No other monsters had shown up. The only people around were the fireball-throwing woman, who was just pushing herself off the ground slightly after recovering from passing out, an unconscious older man and the mysterious suspected serial killers, Sam and Dean Winchester. The woman and older guy didn’t seem to be threats right now, and if she was honest with herself, she was actually having doubts about whether the Winchesters were threats to her either, or ever had been. Dean even might have saved her. That creature had been fast, and now that her brain seemed to be working properly again she noticed rather large bloody claw marks on Dean’s back. She didn’t remember seeing him being attacked, which meant that the only time he could have gotten them was when he tackled her. Veronica winced slightly.

“So, you actually saved me from… _that_ ,” she said looking at Dean and gesturing at the _Wendigo_.

“You catch on fast,” Dean said sarcastically.

“Give me a break; I was attacked by a serial killer. You can’t expect me to have had eyes for anything else,” she retorted.

“Accused serial killer,” Dean muttered before adding: “ _Wrongfully_.”

“I’m not sure about the wrongful part yet,” Veronica stated.

“Yeah, you are,” Dean said before shaking Bobby slightly. “Come on man, wake up, we have to get out of here!”

“What makes you so sure of that?” Veronica asked.

“You’re not pointing that gun at me,” Dean answered. “And I have a feeling that you’re smart enough to realize that there might be explanations for the murders we were accused of that nobody has considered yet.” He gestured at the Wendigo.

“So… what you’re saying is that something like… _that_ …” She pointed at the Wendigo once more. “…killed all the people you supposedly murdered, and that you just happened to be nearby every single time?” 

“Not exactly like that,” Dean replied. “And quit calling it a _that_ , it’s a Wendigo for crying out loud.” He sighed, but then calmed down slightly when Bobby stirred and opened his eyes. “Finally. Come on, Bobby, get your bearings so we can go.”

“The Wendigo?” Bobby asked while pushing himself up.

“Dead,” Dean answered him before turning back to the FBI agent. “Wendigos aren’t the only creatures out there, and we were nearby when those people died because we tried to help them. It’s what we do.”

“You fight those creatures?” Veronica asked. “But that’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

Dean snorted. “We hunt them, yes. And yeah it is, but somebody’s gotta do it.”

Veronica stared at Dean as he and the older man got up. Could she really have been so wrong about him and his brother? Could they all have been so wrong? Yeah, she decided, they could have been and probably were. Nobody would ever have considered that something _supernatural_ was going on. She almost snorted at the thought. She had just witnessed that Wendigo and the witchy fireball-throwing, and she still had a hard time believing any of it. If the Wendigo’s burned body wasn’t still lying on the ground a few feet away and giving off an awful burned smell she might have talked herself into thinking that it was just a hallucination or something. She sighed. Apparently a lot of things that she thought were impossible were actually very real and very _possible_. It would also explain how Sam and Dean always managed to escape custody. They probably had ways of getting away that nobody else had. And those witness testimonies now made sense, too. There were a bunch of people who claimed that the Winchesters were innocent, but couldn’t tell what actually happened. The FBI thought they were either crazy or suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, but Veronica now felt like she had a pretty good idea why the witnesses couldn’t or better _wouldn’t_ tell them what they saw. They’d end up in the psych ward.

Veronica’s eyes fixed on Dean, seeing him in a whole different light now. Then he stumbled and she quickly stepped towards him, reaching out to steady him.

“Thanks,” Dean mumbled, then winced when her arms went around him to help support him.

“Sorry,” she quickly said. “And thanks… you know, for saving me from that _Wendigo_.”

Dean smirked and looked down at her. Veronica had a feeling that he now saw her in a different light as well.

“How about we get out of here. Once we’re safe and alone you can show me just how sorry and _thankful_ you are…”

“Seriously?” Veronica asked pulling back and hitting him slightly in the shoulder. She however felt bad about it as soon as she saw his wince and how unsteady he still was on his feet. With a sigh she went back to supporting him. He had saved her after all and was hurt because of it. “Does that line usually work?” she then asked.

“More often than you’d think,” Sam mumbled before adding: “Unfortunately.”

“You’re just jealous,” Dean said.

Veronica glanced at the redhead, who just stepped next to her, and they both rolled their eyes. “Men!” they muttered in unison and shared an amused smirk. “I’m Willow Rosenberg by the way.”

“Veronica Mars.”

“Bobby Singer,” Bobby butted in before adding: “Now that the introductions are done, how about we get the hell away from here. I don’t want to be around if something else that escaped purgatory feels like finding a snack.” He felt awful enough already.

“Right,” Willow agreed. She really wasn’t in the condition to face anything else either. “Transporter’s that way,” she added and started walking.

“Transporter?” Veronica asked. “And where are we anyway?” Willow turned back to her with what Veronica could only decipher as pity in her eyes.

“Oh, right… since you know them,” she said gesturing at the men. “You probably are from an alternate reality, too.”

“What?” Veronica asked startled. She really hadn’t thought that anything could surprise her anymore after the last events, but apparently she had been wrong yet again.

“Welcome to my world,” Dean muttered next to her.

\----- -----

They hadn’t made it halfway to the transporter when a high pitched scream echoed through the hallways of the city.

“That better not be another one of your supernatural creatures,” Veronica stated, her voice sounding a little unsteady. Her mind was still reeling from the encounter with the Wendigo and the news that she apparently was in another _reality_. She hadn’t even started to process the ramifications of being in an alternate reality. How did that even work? Was it like on that TV show… Sliders? Was there a device that could take them back home? Would they have to search for the right reality? 

“They aren’t _our_ creatures,” Dean pointed out, pulling Veronica out of her thoughts, which was probably a good thing. Wondering about a fictional series wouldn’t help her in her current situation. She had to focus and stay alert. 

“You going to be okay on your own?” she asked, looking at Dean while pulling out her gun. If they were attacked she wanted to be able to move freely to have a better chance at defending them. She was the only one who seemed to be in any condition to fight after all. Willow was still rather pale and a little unsteady, Bobby looked like he was about to pass out at any second, Dean was bleeding all over the place and Sam… Veronica had no idea what was wrong with him. He had the worst haunted look she had ever seen on a person and he kept stumbling and holding his head as if it hurt. Under normal circumstances she would have asked if he was alright, but she had a feeling that she didn’t want to know what his problem actually was. He might answer her and turn her world even more upside down than it already was. She didn’t think she was ready for that.

“I’m fine,” Dean said. He might feel weak, but he had been through worse. Sam wasn’t the only one who had been in hell after all. A little pain in his back was nothing against what he had been through already. To try and prove his point he straightened up a little, but regretted that almost as soon as he did it.

Veronica raised an eyebrow at Dean. She had the feeling he was trying to play tough guy. Well, fine with her, she decided and started looking around closely while they walked along the corridor.

“Transporter’s around that corner. It can take us to the infirmary,” Willow announced, but before they could reach it an utterly grotesque creature with blood red skin and eyes that burned like fire came around the corner, walking on three legs with black hooves. It sniffed, then looked at them. Willow had the feeling that it was smiling. A chill went down her back; it was _that_ kind of smile.

“What the hell is that?” Veronica asked in a whisper, somehow not wanting to speak any louder. “And more importantly, will a gun work this time?”

“Not a clue,” Dean replied just as silently. Sam and Bobby shook their heads.

“Must be something new straight out of purgatory,” Dean muttered, once more feeling rather annoyed with Castiel. Why couldn’t the damn angel just have listened to him, he wondered as the creature came rushing at them.

* * *

**Book Cover fanart for this chapter:**


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